Injured walker winched out of Mt Yulludunida

The community is familiar with the role of the VRA volunteers in a range of emergency situations but recently the VRA members played a key role in the multi agency rescue of the injured bushwalker in the Mt Kaputar National Park.

Darkness was closing in when Narrabri VRA member Megan Davies and National Parks and Wildlife Service senior field officer, Alastair Hillard, began their walk and scramble across wet and slippery rocks down the side of Mt Yulludunida escorting two bushwalkers through trackless bush back to waiting vehicles.

Clattering off into the distance behind them was the Toll Ambulance Helicopter Rescue Service chopper carrying an injured third bushwalker to Tamworth hospital.

Emergency services were called out about midday on Friday, July 17 to respond to a report that a bushwalker had been injured in a fall in the Mt Yulludunida crater area.

A trio of bushwalkers, a husband and wife and their friend, were doing the Skyline Traverse, up the Yulludunida Walk, two kilometres ‘almost straight up.’

At the end of the trail walkers can scramble up the rocks for about another two kilometres over the summit of Mt Yulludunida and then down. It’s half hiking and half rock climbing.

“The hikers had almost reached the end of their walk, so they were just about as far from the end of the Yulludunida Track they could be when a woman in the party had fallen and injured her left ankle and right knee,” said Megan.

The husband and the friend tried to get them back down to the track, but the injured walker couldn’t stand.

“This happened about 12.30,” said Megan.

“We got the call to come and help about 1.30.”

VRA personnel headed up to Green Camp and when they got there police and ambulance personnel had already started up the Yulludunida Track.

But once they got to the top of the track they were still another two kilometres from the accident site through trackless bush on the side of the mountain.

They couldn’t go any further from that point.

Megan and another VRA member, Harry Smith, a recent recruit to the Narrabri VRA who has moved to Narrabri at the end of April after volunteering for two years with Albury VRA, took with them a Stokes litter, a special basket stretcher for moving patients in emergencies.

There was no radio communication because they were in a valley and no one knew whether they could get up to the patient, or if a helicopter was coming.

No one had reached the injured hiker at that stage.

National Parks Field Officer, Alastair Hillard and Megan set off and went ‘off the track’ down the mountain and up the side of the cliff reaching the patient about two hours later.

In the meantime, helicopters had been called for.

Two were busy on more critical missions and the third, the Toll ambulance chopper, had to come from Bankstown, stopping in Tamworth to refuel.

“Rescue 204 was tasked at 2pm from our Bankstown base and the crew on board included a pilot, aircrewman, NSW Ambulance critical care paramedic and helicopter doctor,” said Toll Ambulance Rescue spokeswoman Diane Tremain.

The helicopter arrived overhead at about 4.45. It was getting time critical as darkness was falling, which would have made a winch recovery of the patient problematic.

“Our options were to get the patient out in the helicopter before dark or spend the night on the mountain,” said Megan.

“Thankfully, the helicopter arrived literally right on dusk and they were able to winch the patient out.”

In the meantime, a crew of two special operations paramedics from Tamworth had also come and had started hiking up the track, prepared with all the gear to spend the night on the mountain with the bushwalkers if winching hadn’t been possible.

“Thankfully they weren’t needed but we were all ready to spend the night up there,” said Megan.

“The bushwalkers were very well equipped, properly dressed and kitted out but obviously didn’t expect to spend a night on the mountain.”

The Toll chopper winched a medical officer down and the patient was fitted with her harness and lifted back on board to be flown to Tamworth Hospital.

Then it was a trip back down the mountain in the dark for Megan, Alastair and the two remaining bushwalkers.

It was getting colder and darker by the minute.

They had just enough light to see as the sun was setting. The rain meant the creeks were flowing and the rocks were slippery, so it was a bit of a challenge to get down safely without ‘adding to the problem’ with a fall.

“I have a GPS watch which tells me I climbed 103 storeys, the height of the Empire State building,” laughed Megan.

“The bushwalkers were surprised that we were volunteers,” added Megan. “One said ‘what does VRA stand for?’ as we chatted on the way down.”

While Megan and NPWS Field Officer Alastair were the only two emergency services personnel to walk into the bushwalkers, other VRA members were in support along with other emergency services personnel.

The rescuers and rescued were back to Green Camp about 6.30pm.

The Narrabri VRA is always keen to hear from potential new members and was pleased to recently welcome new member Harry Smith, VRA captain John Hardgrave said.

Toll Ambulance Rescue operates a fleet of eight Agusta Westland 139 helicopters from four bases across NSW and ACT (Sydney, Canberra, Orange, Wollongong).

The service provides rescue, retrieval and expert medical care to the community. It is tasked to over 3000 missions a year by NSW Ambulance, ACT Ambulance and NETS (Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service).