Solihull Ramblers

A local group of the RAMBLERS

Dealing with Casualties

Guidance notes for leaders and those assisting in an incident

Serious injuries on walks are rare: most injuries on walks are relatively minor. A basic first aid kit which many walkers carry is usually sufficient to deal with them. If one should happen on your walk, these notes will be useful, so you could keep them with you on the walk. Ensure that any in the led party who are assisting, are also aware of practices.

Be ready to text the emergency services by registering your phone in advance (see below for details). If there is a poor signal, very often a text will get through whereas a voice call may not. Be aware of your phone's capability to use any network for emergency use.

 

Treating the casualty

  1. Avoid moving the casualty at all, once they have got themselves comfortable. Injuries may be exacerbated by unnecessary movement.
  1. Keep the casualty warm. Wrap them in an emergency foil blanket. You may require two if they are sitting – one front and one back.  If possible get some insulation underneath them, with minimum movement.
  1. Do not give food or drink in case an anaesthetic is required later.
  1. Do not remove clothing or boots except in the case of bleeding where it may be necessary to find the source of bleeding. Clothing or boots may be supporting an injured part.

Contacting emergency services

  1. Be prepared to give full details of where you are. Having the Grid Reference app on your phone will give you your location at a touch of the screen. Give details of nearby farms etc. and select the nearest point that an ambulance could reach (e.g. a junction of a footpath and roadway or track) and inform the emergency services that someone will meet them there. Since the waiting time may be long, the walk leader should nominate people to take turns waiting at this point.
  1. Use a mobile phone to call 999 or 112 †. For emergency calls in the UK, phones are set automatically to use whichever phone provider has the strongest signal in the area. You usually don’t need a password. However you can only send a text to 999 or 112 on your own network, so try a voice call twice before trying to text.  In the UK there is no difference between using 999 or 112.
  1. If you send a text, do not assume your message has been received until you get a message back from the emergency service. An SMS ‘Delivery Report’ does not mean your message has been received. It can take two minutes to get a reply. If you have not received a message within three minutes, send another message straight away.
  1. If the terrain is rough, send a few people down to the ambulance when it arrives. They may need help to carry kit to the casualty.

Registering your mobile phone to text for help†

  1. Text the word “register” to 999.
  2. You will receive a message by return, reply with yes.
  3. You will receive a further message confirming your registration.
  4. You can confirm your registration at any time by texting the word “register” to 999
  5. To alert the emergency services, text details of the problem and location to 999 or 112
  6. You will only be able to send a text on your own network so always try a voice call first.

 

Contributed by Mike Jay

 

† - emergenceny telephone numbers are free of charge and. from a mobile phone, can identify the location of the call. Here's a YouTube video guide to making emergency calls and texts  with a mobile (this links to an external website).