The Western Cape Wilderness Search And Rescue (WSAR) revealed in their report for Saturday, 30 March in a post on Facebook that they were involved in six rescue operations on Saturday.
This ranged from helping lost mountaineers find their way, to airlifting patients to the hospital.
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In the first incident, a 29-year-old hiker called the emergency number after finding himself stranded in the middle of a sheer cliff on Table Mountain.
A small rescue team on board the Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Air Mercy Service (AMS) rescue helicopter were flown to locate the stranded hiker, with the incident concluding at 3:50pm.
The second incident involved a visiting Irish family that called the emergency number when their 11-year-old son fell ill while hiking up Platteklip Gorge in extremely hot conditions.
Rescuers, including SANParks – Table Mountain National Park Rangers, assisted the family as they were slowly descending the popular trail, the boy assessed by a paramedic, before being taken to home by his family.
The incident concluded at 11:15am.
In a third incident, a small team on board the Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness EMS and Air Mercy Service (AMS) rescue helicopter were flown to Table Mountain, to assist a 47-year-old hiker that had collapsed while hiking up the India Venter trail.
The hiker received treatment from a paramedic, before being ‘assisted into a rescue harness, hoisted up into the helicopter and flown to a nearby landing zone’, with the rescue effort ending at 11:52am.
In a fourth incident, rescuers were dispatched to Lion’s Head after hiker reported that she had injured her leg, and required medical attention.
She was assisted into a rescue harness, hoisted up into the helicopter and flown to a nearby landing zone, where she was helped into an ambulance, with the incident concluding at 2:45pm.
Rescue teams were dispatched to the top of Platteklip Gorge in a fifth incident, after they received a call for ‘assistance from a hiker reportedly suffering with severe cramps’.
Despite an extensive search of the area, the team were ‘unable to locate or contact the hiker’ and the rescue team returned to the lower cable station at 3:50pm.
A small rescue team were flown to Waaihoekskloof, at the foot of the Hex River Mountains near Worcester, after a group of hikers reported that one of their members needed assistance.
The 40-year-old hiker was assisted into a rescue harness and hoisted up into the helicopter, and flown to a nearby landing zone, and eventually transferred to a waiting ambulance, concluding before 6:00pm.
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Picture: Wilderness Search And Rescue WSAR Western Cape / David Nel and Grant Duncan-Smith / Facebook