2023 was another very busy year for the team with 66 incidents recorded, up 22% from the previous year, and equalling our 2015 peak. December had a particularly high figure because of the 12 inches of snow which fell in one day while the Grizedale Rally Stages and the Hawkshead Christmas Fair were taking place in our area. Roads quickly became impassable, lots of people became stranded, and we had 9 incidents over 3 days around the valleys and forests to attend to. The chains fitted to our Land Rovers’ tyres covered their cost that weekend.
Most of the themes behind our incidents followed typical trends. The biggest two causes of our callouts were walkers with lower leg injuries from falling over and callouts for lost walkers. Peak time for callouts remained in the middle of Saturdays. Cumbria Police continued to be the main source of our callouts.
However, for a second year, land ambulances were hard to get and helicopter evacuations of casualties again exceeded those by land ambulance. The proportion of casualties taken to hospital in the family car was even higher than last year at 52%. Finally, the proportion of incidents that required a full team to be required (i.e. 10 or more attendees) rose from 63% last year to 71% this year.
Coniston MRT – Summary of incidents in 2023
