Incident report

East Midlands Ambulance Service requested mountain rescue assistance following a 999 call from a group of 24 children and 4 adults doing the Three Dales Circular Walk near Hartington. One of the party, a 15 year old female from Conway, had slipped and jarred her back and was unable to continue.

Buxton and Derby Mountain Rescue Teams were called to the incident and met at Wolfscote Grange. The exact position of the party was not clear and search dog, Megan, with handler, Dave Mason, were immediatelydeployed to locate the group. Other team members were soon on scene, and the young girl was treated by team paramedics whilst the remainder of the group were escorted towards Hartington. 

The casualty was carried by stretcher for over a kilometre to the head of Biggin Dale where an ambulance was waiting to transfer her to a Derby Hospital. 

This incident highlighted the problems with cell-phone coverage in the Peak District as one of the group supervisors had to walk for half an hour in order to obtain a signal before dialing 999.  The weather at the time was cold, wet and miserable. It demonstrates the need to carry spare clothing in case of a mishap.