Details of an emergency involving The Air Ambulance January 2012

The following blog is about an emergency  that Cunninghame Ramblers experienced last weekend whilst walking in the hills south of New Cumnock.The victim who it transpires has a double fracture of her ankle has my fullest sympathy but from a situation like that what can we as responsible ramblers and walk leaders learn from it. After discussion today with some of the members involved I felt it was beneficial to record some of their thoughts and ideas which may help us all in the future if we are ever unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation. 1. When you phone 999 on your mobile in this case due to the location your call is directed to an ambulance co-ordinator based in Glasgow. Give as much detail as you can re location etc take photos of the hills or lochs closest to you with your phone to transmit to the base which could enable someone IE a helicoptor pilot  to locate you more readily and also relay the extent of the injuries you think the victim has sustained..
2 It is the co-ordinator who determines whether you get an air ambulance or the normal one with paramedics.
3.Space blankets should be compulsary amongst each individual member of a group so they can be used in an emergency such as this.
4.If any of the other walkers wish to leave the emergency situation EG to assist the paramedics to locate your position they should only go if they possess a mobile phone so that they can keep in touch with the group at all times.
5.If you possess one of these new high tech phones like an "I" phone for instance please remeber that you operate them with your finger which transmits heat to the screen. If your hands are cold as was the case in this emergency one of the walkers thought his phone was not working but as he found out later due to the severity of the his cold fingers that was the reason his phone would not operate.
6.Make sure that the other members of the group keep themselves warm as you could find yourself with more than one casualty on your hands.
  Basically in conclusion these are some of the  points which were  raised by the group  involved in this incident I hope you find informative and take on board some of the issues mentioned.
   Finally I wish the lady involved who incidentally was a guest of the group on Sunday and  now finds herself   in Crosshouse Hospital a speedy recovery and hope you  return to rambling in the near future.

  Final final footnote must come from the group's comedian who told us today the lady in question can only have 3 free helicoptor rides before they ask her to take up full membership of the ramblers!!