Climber Wedged Between Bolders
Posted: Tue 22 Apr, 2014 5:20 pmhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-22/c ... ection=vic
A climber wedged between two large boulders at Mount Arapiles, in western Victoria for more than 10 hours has been freed by emergency services.
The 24-year-old man was trying to negotiate his way through a "squeeze test" in a narrow crevice when he fell last night about 10:00pm (AEST).
He managed to ring friends, who contacted the emergency services.
The man was freed about 8:10am with the help of olive oil and a pulley system.
He is in a stable condition at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Nick Thresher from Ambulance Victoria says emergency crews needed to slip the man out of the crevice.
"I believe some of his friends actually went around the campsite at Mt Arapiles waking up a few people just asking for some shampoo or any other lubricants they can find," he said.
"Funnily enough someone did bring up some motor oil but we declined the use of that one."
Mr Thresher says under the circumstances the climber is doing remarkably well.
"He's extremely hypothermic. He's been between two very cold rocks for many, many hours. His blood pressure is improving," he told Fairfax radio.
"There doesn't appear to be any significant musculoskeletal injuries but we're very concerned with the amount of time he's actually been trapped in this crevice."
What is crush syndrome?
A medical condition characterised by major shock and renal failure following prolonged continuous pressure on skeletal muscle tissue.Typically occurs after the release of crushing pressure when by-products of the damaged muscle tissue are released into the bloodstream.
Can cause local tissue injury, organ dysfunction, metabolic abnormalities and irregular heartbeat.
Paramedics were concerned about crush syndrome.
"The concerns are that when that heavy weight is actually released the various toxins that can be really very harmful to the body can be released into the bloodstream," Mr Thresher said.
"[But] he was not actually trapped by any boulders. It was a more mechanical entrapment between the rock crevice."
Victoria Police Sergeant Jason Burgen said the man managed to get through the rocks on a first attempt yesterday but became wedged by the hips when he tried to go through again last night.
"It's two boulders and they're, at points, up to four or five inches apart, and the idea is to try and climb through this narrow gap," he said.
"He's gotten so far and his hips [were] wedged in the rocks."
It is not the first time there has been an incident at this spot.
"I do believe there may have been some incidents in years gone by," Mr Thresher said.
"It's a common rock that people use in the rock-climbing fraternity for various activities.
"I think they should take up something less hazardous."
Paramedics, the State Emergency Service, police and the CFA high angle rescue squad worked to free him.
A climber wedged between two large boulders at Mount Arapiles, in western Victoria for more than 10 hours has been freed by emergency services.
The 24-year-old man was trying to negotiate his way through a "squeeze test" in a narrow crevice when he fell last night about 10:00pm (AEST).
He managed to ring friends, who contacted the emergency services.
The man was freed about 8:10am with the help of olive oil and a pulley system.
He is in a stable condition at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Nick Thresher from Ambulance Victoria says emergency crews needed to slip the man out of the crevice.
"I believe some of his friends actually went around the campsite at Mt Arapiles waking up a few people just asking for some shampoo or any other lubricants they can find," he said.
"Funnily enough someone did bring up some motor oil but we declined the use of that one."
Mr Thresher says under the circumstances the climber is doing remarkably well.
"He's extremely hypothermic. He's been between two very cold rocks for many, many hours. His blood pressure is improving," he told Fairfax radio.
"There doesn't appear to be any significant musculoskeletal injuries but we're very concerned with the amount of time he's actually been trapped in this crevice."
What is crush syndrome?
A medical condition characterised by major shock and renal failure following prolonged continuous pressure on skeletal muscle tissue.Typically occurs after the release of crushing pressure when by-products of the damaged muscle tissue are released into the bloodstream.
Can cause local tissue injury, organ dysfunction, metabolic abnormalities and irregular heartbeat.
Paramedics were concerned about crush syndrome.
"The concerns are that when that heavy weight is actually released the various toxins that can be really very harmful to the body can be released into the bloodstream," Mr Thresher said.
"[But] he was not actually trapped by any boulders. It was a more mechanical entrapment between the rock crevice."
Victoria Police Sergeant Jason Burgen said the man managed to get through the rocks on a first attempt yesterday but became wedged by the hips when he tried to go through again last night.
"It's two boulders and they're, at points, up to four or five inches apart, and the idea is to try and climb through this narrow gap," he said.
"He's gotten so far and his hips [were] wedged in the rocks."
It is not the first time there has been an incident at this spot.
"I do believe there may have been some incidents in years gone by," Mr Thresher said.
"It's a common rock that people use in the rock-climbing fraternity for various activities.
"I think they should take up something less hazardous."
Paramedics, the State Emergency Service, police and the CFA high angle rescue squad worked to free him.
