Hiker helivaced off Devil's Peak and Krom Rivier alert

Devil’s Peak Cape Town

On Sunday the 20th of January 2019 at 15h58 the Peninsula Wilderness Search And Rescue unit was activated by the Western Cape Emergency Medical Services (EMS) after a call for assistance was received.

It was reported that a 61 year old male from Cape Town had inured his leg while he was hiking along a section of Devil’s Peak in the Table Mountain National Park. The Metro Rescue Mobile Incident Command vehicle and crew, Rescue Mountaineers and SANParks Visitor Safety Patrollers were dispatched to the Tafelberg road in order to launch a rescue response. The rescuers climbed to the saddle section between Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak where the patient was located and on arrival it was learnt that the hiker had suffered an ankle injury which had rendered him unable to walk any further.

Due to the extreme heat, the Air Mercy Service (AMS) Helicopter Emergency Medical Service which is contracted to the Western Cape Department of Health was requested to avoid a lengthy carry out using a stretcher over difficult terrain.

A temporary Landing Zone (LZ) was set up on the Tafelberg road in order to execute the helivac. After an Advanced Life Support Medial Rescue Technician and a Rescue Climber were lowered to the scene from the helicopter, the patient was stabilised and then hoisted into the helicopter after being secured into a special rescue harness.

The rescue team safely delivered the injured hiker to the LZ after which he was taken to a medical facility for further treatment.

We wish the gentleman a speedy recovery. We also thank the services and members who had responded to the call.

Krom Rivier Worcester

On Sunday the 20th of January 2019 at 16h42 a member of WSAR was contacted by a friend who is an experienced Surf Lifeguard and rescue volunteer to convey his concern after he feared that his daughter may be overdue. She had been hiking along the Krom Rivier route on the Worcester side of the Du Toits Kloof pass in the Boland Mountains which is managed by Cape Nature.

The caller did not wish for a rescue response at that stage as he believed there was no reason to suspect an emergency. He merely wanted to be in contact with the relevant services should the situation prove otherwise. Since the party had not made contact with the family at 16h30, as planned, it was agreed to wait for another 30 minutes before an official response was initiated. In the meantime, members of the Winelands Wilderness Search And Rescue unit were placed on a precautionary standby.

At 17h15 it was confirmed that the party was “all good” when they had managed to contact the family after reaching an area where cellphone reception was again possible. By then the party had not yet completed their hike, so the monitoring continued until such time that they had reached the point where they were safely off the mountain. At 17h57 the confirmation was given that the party had safely completed their hike, at which point the rescue team was stood down.

WSAR would like to commend the family member for his proactiveness by making the initial contact, especially considering the fact that sunset was approaching.

WSAR urges the public to please:-

be careful when descending routes as most knee and ankle injuries occur during this stage
carry at least two liters of water per person
do not hesitate to call the emergency services, even if it is merely precautionary
remember that a “false alarm is better than no alarm”