Another Río Verde Rescue

A Guardia Civil, mountain-rescue team was called out to Río Verde (Junta de Los Ríos) in Otívar after another barranquista came a cropper.

COS OTV Junta de Los Rios Waterfalls Rescue 29AG23 AAs a note of explanation, a barranquista is somebody who abseils down a barranco, although it can also mean doing it on a raft. In this case a young woman injured her back whilst coming down the string of small waterfalls along the gorge.

This happened on Sunday, which you might remember was as windy as hell, so they were unable to use a helicopter to winch her out. Instead they had to haul her along on an encased cot, lowering the victim over waterfalls, taking nearly eight hours to reach an awaiting ambulance.

It was around midday last Sunday that the Guardia Civil received a call out from 112 to say an abseiler had injured herself and needed assistance. They jumped into the GC rescue helicopter but gusting winds meant that they had to put the team down on a nearby track, rather than trying to lower them into the gorge.

Because they couldn’t use the helicopter’s winch, as mentioned above, they first needed more personnel and equipment to do it on foot.

They reached the victim with an injured back, and mindful that moving her could lead to irrevocable damage to her spinal cord, they immobilised her completely with a specially designed, waterproof, rescue stretcher/cot.

Then it was time for the arduous route out, using ropes, blocks and pulleys until they could reach a narrow path leading out of the gorge to the awaiting vehicles. Once in the ambulance she was taken to Hospital Santa Ana in Motril.

Video

(News/Noticias: Otivar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)

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