Incident report

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team was called to assist East Midlands Ambulance Service at the disused quarries at Harpur Hill, Buxton where youths had been swimming.

The group of youths had been splashing and diving into the water pools at the bottom of the quarry when one of them suffered a suspected fracture of the lower left leg.  Ambulance service personnel were first on scene to attend to the youth’s injuries but mountain rescue was called to haul the casualty up the steep sides of the old quarry. He was then carried several hundred yards on a stretcher to an ambulance waiting by the roadside.   The casualty was taken to Macclesfield Hospital for treatment to the leg and observation following the possible digestion of contaminated water. 

Mountain rescue does not comment on the activities of the casualties it deals with.  However, the team can give a general warning that swimming in disused quarries is potentially dangerous particularly following the consumption of alcohol.

Photos: Right – inviting but cold, contaminated, very deep and full of hidden obstacles.   Left – team and paramedics prepare to carry out the stretcher.