Mountain Rescue

Over half term, five intrepid students had a memorable adventure on Helvellyn during their Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

Recently appointed Head Girl Katie, along with Catriona, Christina, Lita and Milly, embarked on their five-day practice expedition, hiking the main peaks of the Lake District for their Gold Award.  They report back on their experience, which involved putting their first aid training and teamwork skills into action.

‘On our penultimate day, we were climbing down a misty Helvellyn, the second highest peak in England, when Katie slipped and fell. Although we didn’t know it at the time, she had fractured her leg. We acted quickly, keeping her warm and calm, while our instructors called 999, patching us through to mountain rescue. A team of eleven rescuers arrived swiftly, having run up the mountain, before explaining what was going to happen and performing first aid – they even gave helpful insight to the aspiring medics in our group, including Katie herself. Once she was strapped to the stretcher, the team carried her down a steep decline to the waiting ambulance. Our DofE group would like to say a huge thank you to the Keswick Mountain Rescue team for being so professional and friendly; any donations via their JustGiving page would be greatly appreciated, as they do such important work.’ 

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme is perennially popular at South Hampstead, with most Year 9 pupils completing the Bronze Award and large numbers continuing to do their Silver Award. So far this year, 29 Sixth Form students have completed their Gold Award practice expedition.