Flares guide helicopter to injured mountain rescuer
21/10/2019
Flares have been used in poor visibility to guide emergency services to a mountain rescue team member injured in a training exercise.
The volunteer was on a training exercise one day in October when he was injured in County Clare, Ireland, reports clare.fm news.
Colleagues rushed to help, report the incident, which happened between Doolin and Fanore, and direct the emergency services to the scene.
The rescue was co-ordinated by the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry. The cliff area is not accessible by land vehicles.
The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard, National Ambulance Service (NAS) paramedics and Gardai arrived and the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter assisted. NAS paramedics treated the casualty at the scene while they waited for the rescue helicopter.
With heavy mist and rain affecting visibility, a Coast Guard volunteer used a red flare to mark the location for the helicopter crew.
The man was winched on board the helicopter and flown to Shannon Airport from where he was taken by road ambulance to University Hospital Limerick for treatment. His injuries are not thought to be serious.
The image is a stock picture from Wikimedia and is reproduced under Creative Commons.
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