UKC

I've sometimes wondered whether I'm a bit pessimistic on my hill walks - always taking more layers than I'm likely to wear just in case I get injured and have to stay warm, taking different phones, torch, first aid kit, map etc, even when it's lovely clear weather and plenty daylight.... but I can stop wondering about it now (unfortunately!).

Had an accident this week. The fall itself was nothing spectacular or gory; I'd done a lovely walk in t-shirt weather and was just starting the descent of the last hill to head back to the car. Rough, pathless terrain, but nothing difficult, just typical of a lot of highland hills and the sort of terrain I cover on walks most weeks. Had a slip and took a short tumble, felt severe pain in my ankle. Couldn't weight bear, felt down the side of my leg and into my boot and nothing was poking out, though it certainly didn't feel right, but not an open fracture at least. 

2 phones with me, different networks, but neither had signal. Used the roll of tape from my first aid kit to splint my leg with my walking pole. Tried shouting for help, but I knew no-one else was around, midweek and early evening on one of Assynt's lesser frequented hills. Deluded myself initially that 3hrs of daylight might be enough to crawl to near a road and attract help, (or at least be easier for MR to find me) so set off. Sent off 999 texts from both phones (previously registered with the 999 text service) giving my grid location.

Over the next 3 hours of dragging myself backwards down the hill and then crawling through heather, bog and deer droppings, I was glad of my rucksack's 'emergency' contents:

-Extra layers initially protected me from heather and ticks, later ones added to keep warm when the sun had gone down. On a sunny day walk, I'd never thought I'd end up in my woolly hat, fleece, and waterproof jacket.

-When I eventually reached a point where I got enough signal to make or receive a call (breaking up but better than nothing) was very glad to have 2 well charged phones on different networks and was able to give police both numbers to increase chance of maintaining contact (and also so they knew it was just 1 casualty despite potentially duplicate texts from 2 numbers)

- The grid reference I'd given in the original texts had been up near the ridge, so when on the call and asked to give my updated location, I didn't want to risk playing around with my phone to get a GPS reading and lose the call connection, so was glad to have a paper map and gave the grid reference using that.

- 3hrs of painful crawling is tiring and calorie burning (though kept me warm when the sun had gone down)! I'd eaten my sandwiches earlier in the walk, so the emergency energy gels in my first aid kit were a relief to find.

- I can't claim pain relief was great, but the couple of tablets I took maybe helped reduce the discomfort

- Mountain Rescue were mobilising, but then contacted me to say it would be dark before they got to me and it was too far to carry me out so they'd requested the SAR helicopter and asked me to make myself visible with bright clothing. A few minutes later I spotted the Stornoway helicopter in the distance, about the same time they spotted me from a mile or two away. The torch, mirror and foil blanket made locating me very easy apparently, and had taken up practically no room in my bag. 

That's a very abridged summary of events. I didn't do anything stupid, reckless or dangerous to get injured, it was a slip which could have happened anywhere, and the experience just really brought home to me how important having some basic emergency supplies is for even a straightforward walk. I could have had a locator beacon I guess, that might have expedited things, but other than that, the basic, inexpensive stuff always lugged around on my walks saved me from a cold and agonising night in the hills.

And a huge than you to Rescue 948, the Stornoway Search & Rescue crew who splinted my leg, winched me off the hill and got me to hospital. They did an absolutely brilliant job! I'm just out of hospital now after getting a plate and 7 screws to fix the fracture (so thank you Raigmore Hospital!) ... it'll be a few months before I'll be mobile and back up a hill, but I'll certainly be restocking my bag with another foil blanket before I go.

Blimey, good effort to drag yourself to somewhere you were able to pick up a phone signal! Easy to have an accident like that, not so easy to manage so capably. Hope your ankle heals swiftly.

Just out of interest - had the Police picked up any of the 999 texts or did nothing get through til you rang?

“”:Tried shouting for help, but I knew no-one else was around, midweek and early evening on one of Assynt's lesser frequented hills””

 I am ashamed to add negative comments 

 Firstly sounds nasty hopefully it makes a good recovery is the plate there for good or removed later on 

 Second did you have a whistle ?

 Even in the middle of inverpoly  that  piercing sound will travel a long way and   Others may have been about  

Thanks for posting....a good reminder and heads up!!

Hope you recover soon....

'There but for the grace of etc' applies to me yesterday. I was on a very unfrequented hill in Cowal and tripped and head butted a rock. No-one about but sheep. Fortunately, no harm except a cut on my nose. I do take spare clothing and a big plastic survival bag, not sure if I have a whistle (will check). Possibly due to being in close proximity to Clydeside the phone signal was fine. If I'd copped it by the car then that would not be so.

I had a similar experience pre mobile phones but my crawl was over ( as in spanning, i.e. with an overnight ) two days in the Cairngorms.  Mostly on snow which helped the crawling

Good to hear your tale, and well done for making a damn good effort.  And for packing well too

Salutary tale, thanks for sharing and good luck with recovery.

Don't know why you got downvoted, a whistle is a really good idea, attached to every life jacket and buoyancy aid and the op sounds like the sort of person who would appreciate good suggestions.

To the op, glad you're ok, get well soon and remember to do your physio, I speak from experience as you can see from my photos :-0

Cheers

Toby

I was one of the people who disliked the whistle suggestion. I agree with the idea of whistles being useful but didn't think the post handled the suggestion with the level of tact that the context called for.

That's quite an ordeal. I'm really glad it worked out OK - clearly in large part down to your being so well prepared. All those basics are just excess weight ...until you need them.

All the best for a speedy recovery!

 So because your sensitivities we’re not satisfied you down voted what  you think is a good suggestion simply for the sake of  ?

 All that’s wrong in the country in the world and with the PC  brigade the Woakes and the insufferable -

 Op  I didn’t mention the blizzard bags  but of course you can’t walk or crawl in one   I don’t know if they work and that's a good thing, I know the whistles do  

for your reference 

https://www.go-kayaking.com/equipment/safety-rescue/fox-40-pealess-rescue-w...

https://www.blizzardsurvival.com/shop/blizzard-3-layer-survival-bag/

Is there any chance of having that rewritten in a form that makes sense? I have absolutely no idea what point you are trying to make. 

...what?

I generally switch off and ignore anyone who uses the word 'woke' like it's a bad character quality - but given that you can't actually spell it and haven't used it, I guess I'll reply.

Yes, a whistle is a great suggestion - but making a good suggestion doesn't absolve one of the basic human decency of being an empathetic or compassionate person.

Amazing story.

Just for others benefit, won't mobiles connect to any network for emergency calls ? I thought they would/could but I may have been deluding myself on that one.

yep

will connect if a network is present but if out of range for all its got nothing to connect to

According to this: https://firstaidtrainingcooperative.co.uk/999-or-112-which-is-best/ you are correct (as of 2009). And it had been my understanding as well.

Note, though, that it only applies to voice calls - and it only works outgoing i.e. the emergency services cannot call you back if you have no signal, so try to stay on the line. Texts *do* require connectivity to your own network provider. So best to try voice calling first. And, given that the phone *will* attempt to send a previously submitted text once it does have signal, maybe best not include precise location details until you know that you do have signal.

And it didn't: NC34 expressed hope for a good recovery, and shame at making a pertinent suggestion that might be (and obviously has been) read as a negative comment.

To the OP: congrats on recovering yourself, having suitable emergency kit, and writing up a salutary reminder for all of us. Hope the recovery goes well. Now, about that whistle... 

A whistle is something I do normally have in my bag too. Couldn't find it though, so think I'd maybe left it another rucksack. 

In that particular situation I'm not sure I would have been rescued much faster; even if someone had heard it they'd have been too far away to tell where it was coming from, so the search area would have been pretty big. So although I took longer to raise help, I gave my exact location when I did.

But I agree a whistle in general is a good thing to have and takes up hardly any room.

To be clear, I haven't disliked anything myself - but I can see why others may have. Tact is tricky.

see this is why I disabled likes. My blood pressure is much better

I think they did get the texts, though not sure when. They showed up as not being sent on both phones, then even when I managed to make the 999 call later, the call taker didn't seem to be able to hear me and then the call ended. That was one of the worst parts, I thought she'd assumed it was a prank call and hung up! I then got a few automated texts over the next half hour saying I had missed calls, but I hadn't had good enough signal for my phone to ring with a call - so then I was even more worried that people would think I was a prank caller now not answering my phone! Finally I got to a spot where a call from police in Edinburgh came through and I could tell them what was going on and give them both my numbers.They had the grid ref I'd given in my initial text and asked if I was still up near the ridge, so that's when I gave my new location. 

I was in a lovely scenic spot, but it turns out having hills curving around you is only lovely from an aesthetic position, not a practical phone signal one!

Has name-changed-34 changed his original post?  I've read through it a few times and can't see anything negative about his comments.

1. he expresses concern over the OPs condition and

2. he makes a suggestion that a whistle might have been useful. (note. he doesn't criticise the OP for not using one). 

If someone's getting upset over either of those points the world has truly become a depressing place.  

It's not the original post I'm replying to or have a personal problem with, it's:

 All that’s wrong in the country in the world and with the PC  brigade the Woakes and the insufferable

Ah. should have been a reply to luke90 . "I agree with the idea of whistles being useful but didn't think the post handled the suggestion with the level of tact that the context called for."

sorry

As this seems to have been intended for me, I should perhaps clarify that I'm not "getting upset" about the whistle post. I'm consistently surprised by how seriously people take dislikes here, they really shouldn't be a big deal. But people also seem particularly offended by the anonymity and lack of explanation that goes with them so I thought I'd explain my reasoning, as someone asked. I don't think the post was particularly egregious. As a spur of the moment judgement as I read it, I thought that on balance it wasn't a particularly sympathetic response to the OP and could have tried slightly harder to avoid an implication of judgement that is naturally going to come with suggestions of how the situation could have been handled differently. That was all.

If I'd been actually upset by the post, or more vehemently disagreed with it, I would have bothered posting to say so. Disliking is the most minimal possible response, which expresses how strongly I felt about it (i.e. not at all).

Name changed's bizarre rant about wokeness certainly hasn't changed my impression that they're not particularly tactful.

In any case, this is all a bizarre diversion from the point of the thread so I commend the OP for their forethought in packing so well, and the smart decisions they made during the incident itself, and wish them a speedy recovery.

Out of interest, did you let anyone know what you were doing and when you intended to return? I guess you'd have been properly stuffed if you'd broken yourself enough to not be able to move to an area with phone signal and no-one knew you were there.  So many people have been saved by giving someone an idea of where they've gone, and when they plan to be back.

On the whistle subject, many rucsacs have them built into the chest straps nowadays. They don't seem to be terribly loud based upon my experience of my scouts blowing them at opportune moments.

Like you I pack a comprehensive “what if”rucksack particularly if I’m somewhere alone or remote. Years ago when I was doing my ML training, my 17 year old son asked if he could borrow my rucksack as ballast for a clifftop walk. After half an hour hiking along happily he met a group, hysterical because one of their party had had a serious fall from height from a lookout type post (the one at baggy point) and been badly injured with a huge open thigh wound. My son put his CCF and first aid training to use, called 999 and opened the rucksack. First out, first aid kit, followed by large wound dressings, spare jacket, and everything else you could need to stabilise a casualty and keep everyone warm and comfortable while they awaited the rescue team and helicopter. They thought they had just met the best equipped 17 year old ever.

He never confessed that it wasn’t his rucksack and until he opened it he’d had no idea what was in it!

He was already carrying the most important item: his training. Good lad, well done.

If you want more certainty, get a satellite device like an Garmin InReach mini. There are still large areas even in popular hills such as the Lake District with no signal. Rather expensive though. 

In reply to gld73:

Thanks for sharing, good luck with your recovery. 

You're absolutely right. On this occasion people knew I'd gone walking in that area, but didn't know the specific hill (I didn't really decide myself until I got there as I had 2 or 3 options, depending what time I arrived and the weather). I did leave a note in my car saying what hill I was doing and what time I'd set off, but that would only have been looked for the next day when I didn't turn up for my shift.

Thank you (I'm actually female, but have got a rubbish username and it's not obvious!)

There have been some good articles on UKH/UKC recently about simple things to have in your bag which could help in an emergency, and I wrote my post to show that it's true. Have to admit, I always hoped if I had to use them, it would be because I came across someone else needing help! Wasn't to be the case, but I was fortunate that it was "just" an isolated lower leg injury, albeit quite a serious one, and I was still able to drag myself backwards or crawl. 

I was referring to Annabel's son, in her story...

I thought your whistle suggestion was good.

Now maybe you could go and blow it.

Mind Woakes on his day can be devastating.

re the dislikes

I hope I haven't caused offence to anyone in this thread to warrant dislikes. Getting dislikes doesn't bother me, but unintentionally offending people does, so if I have, my apologies; that wasn't my intention.

I congratulated the OP in my first post (without referring to gender), and congratulated Annabel Tall's son in my second post. Both congratulations are entirely genuine.

My whistle is attached to my compass, so is always in my sac. Glad to hear that they are on the mend. A salutary tale we can all learn from.

Hope you make a full and quick recovery. I can only image what you went through.

Like you I used to carry lots of things for just in case situations from a very young age and fortunately I never had to use them for myself. I’ve had to use things on many occasions though over the years for others; things like extra gloves, hats, fleeces, and first aid kit, and even emergency food and water I carried. 

Besides wishing you well, it reminds me of a late friend who I walked with a lot. As you mentioned a simple fall, hopefully you have been checked, but just in case if not, maybe worth checking for osteoporosis if it can’t really be explained why the ankle broke.

The backstory was one hillwalking friend Maggie, did a simple trip and broke an ankle. As they were four of us altogether we did a self rescue for various reasons given the circumstances, but that is another story. After recovery, another outing and the other ankle broke easily, however after treatment she was discharged without further investigation. As both hospital attendances were via A&E as “walk-in” no connection was made by medics of two broken ankles in two years. If was only after that someone suggested getting checked for osteoporosis, that medics made a connection and indeed she was diagnosed later with that.

Anyway, best wishes for a full recovery.

I realised that on re-reading the thread properly, but it was too late for me to edit! Sorry! (I wasn't offended by your post pointing that out, I've got a leg hurting way more than my pride just now!)

Amazing, wish you a speedy recovery.

Hope your recovery is quick and full.

Another thing which takes no additional weight is Life360 or similar (a phone app). It basically allows those using it, in your circle to track each others whereabout 24/7. Whilst I appreciate you had lost signal, had you not been able to crawl to signal, it would have at least meant that someone would have your last known whereabouts if you didn't come home that evening, greatly speeding up the search effort.

My wife and I use it, very useful. Most people we speak to think it's a strange stalker thing to use, but if you have nothing to hide and have trust it's incredibly useful.

The most obviously "woak" thing is going hillwalking. Normal people stay in their cars and enjoy the view in comfort without expecting taxpayers to pay for rescuing irresponsible walkers.

I was that cynical person who felt it was a bit stalkery, but having been convinced by my wife and using it amongst the immediate family, I have to concede it is useful. It's prevented some mild panicking and unnecessary messaging, particularly with the kids (sadly you have to supply them with a phone!)

Us too, fantastic to come home to tea just made or know that the other half is just stuck at work without mithering them. You do need signal though! A friend, who has had a stroke has it so his wife can sort him out when needed.

That's interesting that you found Life360 useful. We tried it and gave up on it, found it useless. Tracking my wife and daughter together in the car it had them 30 to 60 miles apart. Sent notifications hours late. But the real killer was the effect on battery life. I couldn't keep it enabled all the time or my phone would die.

That is an interesting point. I have thought about using something like Life360 as well but when on a remote area trip battery conservation can be an important issue

I've found the 'Buddy Beacon' feature in OutdoorActive is a good option which will give your selected contacts a recent location. It doesn't seem to make much difference to battery life whether it's on or off.

Glad to hear you managed to get off the hill safely and a good reminder to all of us to ensure we don't leave home without the emergency provisions! It still baffles me when I'm out running and spot others basically in the nude dozens of miles from the nearest road.

I know others have mentioned it, but it certainly needs repeating, that there is some great tech out there now that could be a great help in situations like this, certainly if the injuries had rendered onward travel impossible. 

I have carried my Garmin Inreach mini2 for a year now, every time I am out ski touring, climbing, running or hill walking with my family, and also carry it in my car (commute takes me via snake pass over the Peak District). For £14 a month (pence per mile travelled if you are a regular on the hill) it gives me that extra layer of protection, and stops the family worrying as much when you are away. Certainly something I would recommend to anyone. 

To the OP, wishing you a speedy recovery. 

If only Joe Simpson had been carrying a whistle...