Unsurprisingly it is yet again raining here in Wales. Today we are in the Coed Y Brenin area and our instructor tells us we are going to be doing some navigation practice, so we set off across the river and into the forest. After practicing a bit of forest nav which has it’s own challenges (namely being able to see into the distance through so many trees) we navigate through the moss covered forest, which looks like something out of a fairytale. Before long we arrive at Penrhos Isaf which is a very old cottage, now used as a bothy and maintained by the MBA (Mountain Bothies Association). Penrhos Isaf was bulit in 1880 out of local stone and there’s no electricity, water or gas. Which is not unusual for a bothy, what it does have though is the distinct smell of haunted house.

If you’ve got heard of bothies before, it’s best explained as essentially a shelter which can range from practically a B&Q shed to a full blown cottage. A great example of the shed type is the fords of Avon Bothy in the Cairngorms which is well worth a visit and extremely remote, Penhros Isaf is of course an excellent example of the cottage type. The facilities they have are usually very limited, so it’s usually best to assume they won’t have any bar somewhere to sleep, they may have a fireplace but don’t count on it, and don’t expect there to be any water either. It’s probably best to think of it as a kind of camping camping but instead of in a ten, in a building. The upside of these places are that they are left unlocked, they are free to use and generally they exist in beautiful and remote areas of the UK. The one’s that exist closer to civilisation tend to be busier and as they operate on a first come first serve basis you don’t have a guarantee that there will be a space for you. You also don’t always get to chose who your bothy mates will be which can lead to fun evenings but also on the flip side you might end up sharing the place with people you can’t stand.

We head inside the bothy which is clearly very old and take a seat at the kitchen table as sunlight streaming through the windows illuminates the specks of dust floating through the air. As it’s pretty important to know how to pronounce the different names of mountains and areas in Wales, Ireland and Scotland, we explore a few including how to pronounce them and what they mean. It’s interesting to see how very literal and descriptive the names are once translated. I’ve noticed that often this descriptiveness does help with navigation, as often that desciption points out what you are looking for.

Scottish:

Aonach: Means a ridged summit with steep sides. Aonach Eagach mean’s ‘notched ridge’ . Very descriptive.

Mor: Means ‘big’ and can also be spelt ‘More’ 

Bynack: My instructor insists this means ‘wart’ and at this point I realise a mountain me and some friends hiked in the Cairngorms could mean ‘Big Wart’ and that’ll be Bynack More. However it could also mean ‘cap’ or ‘big little mountain’. I’ve no doubt there are other possible translations.

Beag or Beach: This means ‘small’ 

Am Bastier: Means ‘the executioner’ which makes me want to go and climb it 

Bein / Ben: There’s some discussion that ‘Ben Nevis’ derives from Ben Nebhius (check spelling) which means venomous hill apparently or ‘evil one’ . Ben is the most common word for hill in Gaelic.

Glas Mal: Means ‘rounded hill’ according to my instructor however i see it could also mean green.

Welsh:

Carnedd: Means a pile of stones but can also refer to an entire mountain, or in some cases the mountain being conical.

Foel: Pronounced ‘Voil’ can mean bald or treeless.

Myndd Mawr: Pretty much means ‘big mountain’ pronounced munn-ith (mountain) mawur (big)

Glyder: Means ‘Rough hill’ which makes a lot of sense if you have ever seen the rocky tops of the glyders then that’ll make total sense 

Pen Y Fan ‘ Top of head of the peak. Same as Pen Y Pass means head of the pass for example. Can also apparently mean forehead

Foel Fach: Little hill / little bald hill prounounced voil-vach.

Cwm Glas ‘Blue corrie’ prounounced ‘coom glass’

Llyn Ddu: (Pronounced Klin Vee) means ‘black lake

Moel: Pronounced ‘moil’ – hill basically 

After our hike we all take a sit down and have an in depth discussion about what to do in an emergency, specifically how mountain rescue works. Nobody on the training has been mountain rescued at this point, though little do I realise that many months later i’ll be getting rescued from a very sketchy winter mountaineering incident. That however will be a blog all of it’s own, so as I’m writing this in retrospect I can unfortunately confirm a number of things that I’m writing here from personal experience. As you can imagine it was a learning experience but in no way fun, and I’ll be doing everything in my power to avoid having it happen again.

Being Rescued

I think there’s definitely a few people out there who have the impression they will never get rescued, and it’s that kind of over confidence that can contribute to it actually happening. We enjoy a dangerous pastime, mountain areas are dangerous places full of hazards and so much can contribute to things going wrong for even the most experienced and best trained of us. The mountain has no regard for you, or even how well you have planned your trip. The more time we spend in the mountains the more likely it is that we could meet a hazard or situation we were not prepared for. Nobody is infallible and anyone can also make a mistake in planning or judge a situation incorrectly. All we can do to combat this is get as much experience and possible, plan as best we can therefore reduce the risk for ourselves and / or our group. We should do our upmost to make sensible, informed choices and plans, though when under pressure or panic in a reactionary response we may find the difficulty of doing this increases considerably. 

Tell Someone What You Doing and where you are going!: It’s always important to have contact you trust who will raise the alarm if they don’t hear from you in my case it’s usually my mate Andy. Usually I’ll text him or call him and tell him where I’m going which route how long it’ll take me and when he can expect to hear from me, and what to do if he doesn’t. This is especially important as a leader because if nobody knows where you went or when you might return how can they rescue you? It also helps if they have some knowledge of what you are doing and the route, for example I know my father would call it in if he didn’t hear off me but he isn’t going to have a working knowledge of what I’m doing or specifics about the route or my skills or my kit, because he isn’t into outdoor adventures, whereas Andy will know the majority of this. 

Who To Talk To When Calling In A Rescue

Knowing who to talk to when you need rescuing is important, how to contact the emergency services, and which services in particular. It’s fairly standard to call 999 in the UK where we are however it’s important to mention you can also call 112 or even 911 now which I assume was brought it for foreign travellers. You need to ask for the police before you can get hold of mountain rescue which may seem a little strange, however this is because mountain rescue act as agents of the police. It also needs to be the police force for the area that you are in. They will ask for your location, which you can give from the app OS locate or similar or a map grid reference. However I can say from experience they can also get a location for you using a text message they send you which shares your phones location also. If you are close to a road on accessible terrain it may be that you just need an ambulance though it’s important to think of if the ambulance / paramedics can access your location. They tend to use the app called ‘what3words’ however despite so many people raving about this there are a few issues, some people forget to wait for it to update and give a wrong location. It’s also flawed in the sense that the words can be fairly easily misheard, especially with the noise of the outdoors and possible mispronunciation. Using the phonetic alphabet while providing a location using this method would probably be wise. 

What To Do With A Casualty 

It’s always worth mentioning the ‘DR ABC’ way of remembering where to start when you have a casualty also known as the primary survey. For a refresher check out https://www.sja.org.uk/get-advice/first-aid-advice/how-to/how-to-do-the-primary-survey/ however bear in mind there are going to be different challenges outside compared to your everyday first aid scenarios.

D    Danger: Is there danger? What has caused the injury? Worth checking as there may be falling rocks, maybe a wild animal what’s injured them might injure you, make sure you only approach the casualty once you have confirmed the area is safe, if of course that is possible. It may be you need to move the casualty for instance from an area you have identified as prone to rock falls.

R    Response : do they respond if you talk to them? Open eyes gesture or talking is a response. If you don’t get these you treat the casualty as non-responsive. If they are non-responsive you will need to treat them quickly.

A    Airway (is their airway blocked?) is something blocking their airway, this could be food, this could be their own tongue it may even be something like a severe allergic reaction. Outside this could be thing’s like bee stings and snake bites. Check that its is open and clear, if it is not you can place one hand on the forehead to tilt the head back and use two fingers from your other hand to lift the chin. Move onto breathing as soon as possible if they are non-responsive.

B    Breathing: Check they are breathing by placing your ear above the mouth, while looking down their body. Listen to see if you can hear breathing and see if you can feel their breath on your cheek.Watch to see if their chest moves, do this for 10 seconds. If not responsive and not breathing it’s time to call for mountain rescue and start CPR right away. If they are responsive and breathing move onto circulation

C    Circulation : Are they bleeding? Obviously not good if so you’ll need to find where they are bleeding from. As there’s a good chance they will be wearing a waterproof jacket/ trousers, you’ll have to check inside them. In a rather grim sense gore tex is going to keep blood contained. Identify where the bleed is and treat by applying direct pressure to the wound. If unresponsive and breathing put them in the recovery position and get on the phone to mountain rescue

CPR. Do they need CPR? A last resort. 

Mountain leaders are required to take a 16hr (Two day) outdoor first aid course so I’m not going to go through the whole first aid manual here, otherwise this post will turn into a book. There are a lot of notable differences with the outdoor first aid certificate. Namely the difficulties encountered when helping casualties in a mountain environment some examples being the weather, shelter, wether not not to move the casualty and of course the speed you can get assistance. 

Speaking To Mountain Rescue And The Police:

Firstly calm yourself down. You may be in a sticky spot but stressing out is not going to help you if it’s you solo, and if you are leading a group, you are the one who can calm them and instils some confidence and keep morale up. Maybe stop and get dug in a bit get your head straight and decide, do you actually need rescuing or are you just having a panic. If the answer is rescue then it’s time to make the call.

Have the information. One thing I’ve noticed working in this location (Snowdonia) is the lack of information I’ve had when customers have reported people in trouble. In one case someone reported someone with a bad leg on the PYG track and when asked for more information, the persons name and the nature of the injury specifically they couldn’t say. If you want to help you need more information, without this it’s unlikely that a party will be sent out to find them. The other thing to assess is do they actually need rescuing. In some cases I’ve had people say ‘we saw lights up on the mountain we should call mountain rescue’ no you shouldn’t people go up Snowdon all hours all times of day in almost all weather, seeing a head torch is not a reason to mount a rescue operation. If there is a case to report an incident when speaking to mountain rescue they will want any casualty information you have. Most of this information will have come from the primary survey (see the aforementioned DR ABC) they may be stable and talking. If you are reading this and you are not first aid qualified there’s a possibility you could be walked through the below over the phone now it’s onto the secondary survey.

Ask the responsive casualty and the rest of the group if there is one questions about the incident if there has been one the point of this being to find out more about your casualty’s history, signs and symptoms. Take note of the answers if you can on your phone or a notepad. Don’t move the casualty unless you are sure it is advisable. At this point you will need to ask them about their medical history, which if you are an organised ML you should already have an idea of before you set out. However people don’t always disclose medical issues beforehand even when asked on forms, this can be because of embarrassment or in some cases they don’t think it’s an issue.

Below from the https://www.sja.org.uk/get-advice/first-aid-advice/how-to/how-to-do-the-secondary-survey/ site.

Use the mnemonic AMPLE as an easy reminder. Look out for any medical warning jewellery which may provide information their medical history or any allergies. Often this is a bracele.

  • Allergy – Do they have any allergies? For example, nuts or any medication such as penicillin or aspirin?
  • Medication – are they taking any medication?
  • Previous medical history – do they suffer from any medical condition such as diabetes, epilepsy or heart disease? Have they had any previous injuries or surgery?
  • Last meal – when did they last eat or drink?
  • Event history – what happened and where? Is the incident due to an illness or an accident? Ask any people nearby what happened and look for any clues that may give you more information.
  1. Signs – look, listen, feel and smell for any signs of injury such as swelling, deformity, bleeding, discolouration or any unusual smells. When checking them you should always compare the injured side of the body with the uninjured side. Are they able to perform normal functions such as standing or moving their limbs? As you check, make a note of any superficial injuries to treat once you’ve finished your examination.
  2. Symptoms – ask the casualty short, simple questions about any symptoms and sensations they may be feeling. They should answer in as much detail as possible. For example, ask them:
    • Do you have any pain?
    • Where is the pain?
    • When did the pain start?
    • Can you describe the pain, is it constant or irregular, sharp or dull?
    • Is the pain made worse by movement or breathing?

You will be asked how many people are involved in the incident and by this they mean how many people are with you in total, not just the amount of people who are injured. And this is important for a number of reasons, depending on the situation, more could become casualties, and also the rescuers need to know how many people they might have to rescue, as you may also be lost and that needs to be dealt with too. They will ask you your name and your phone number, and though you may think it the police can’t tell what your number is unless it’s via an emergency call. They will ask if there’s injury or if you are lost, to there’s been loss of life. This then gets passed onto mountain rescue who will ask you the same questions to confirm, also where you are and they will usually give a rough idea of how long they will take. They will likely call you a number of times to make sure you are ok , depending on the situation. In my case they called me fairy often and asked me at a certain point to blow my emergency rescue to aid the rescuers in finding me. 

Getting rescued:

Mountain rescue can take many hours to get to you, depending especially on factors such as the therein and the weather, bad weather can mean they will get you on foot rather than with for example a helicopter (bearing in mind a chopper is often the last option) in my case when I got rescued the call went in at 9pm and the rescuers reached me around 12 midnight by foot. The weather at the time, there was no chance of a helicopter, plus I could walk so they walked me out. The best thing is to not panic, try and stay positive, keep warm, hydrated and eat. Beating yourself up about it is pointless, as it will just make the situation worse. If you’ve got an emergency shelter get it out and use it, being the way they are (usually neon orange) not only will it make you super visible but it will help keep you/the group warm and keep the weather off you. 

Rescue By Helicopter

Signalling a helicopter: In some situations the mountain or may be busy and it could be necessary to indicate wether or not you need rescuing, in such case making a ‘Y’ shape with your arms means ‘rescue us’ or putting one arm up and one down means ‘we don’t need rescuing’ 

Don’t get electrocuted: The winch man will throw out a cable which will trail from the helicopter to the ground. At this point forget all and everything you have seen in action films this is not to climb up, in fact don’t touch it or g anywhere near it  as it is to ground the helicopter and touching it will electrocute you, what’s more is if you try and grab it the helicopter will just fly away.  

Prepare the landing area: You need to prepare the landing area for the downdraft created by the helicopter, the best thing to do is clear the area of debris the best you can as the downdraft can blow this upwards and cause injury. Make a pile of he groups equipment and all lie on it to stop it moving. You need to make sure any shelter you have used is packed down once they arrive (this can easily get blown away) 

Thanks for reading!In future posts i’ll go into further detail on how to build ML First aid kits, rescue techniques and much more!