CANYONING 31 December 2006 - Broken foot/evac, Morong/Kowmung, Blue Mountains, NSW
Lucas Trihey
Mountains, NSW
Two men were walking in the rugged Morong Gorge section of the Kowmung
River a little upstream of Morong Falls when at about 1pm one of the
men dislodged a large rock that toppled and fell onto him, crushing his
foot. After abandoning attempts to walk on the foot they set the
injured man up with shelter, equipment and food and the other man left
to get help at 3:30pm.
The walker found a way out of the gorge via a ridge just south of
Morong Creek, near the top the ridge had some steep rocky sections that
required scrambling. He then returned to a vehicle the pair had left at
the Morong Falls trailhead, arriving soon after 5pm. He drove to
Jenolan Caves and raised the alarm. At about this time the weather
deteriorated bringing rain, fog and thunderstorms.
He then returned to the Morong Creek Fire Trail to meet a rescue team
comprised of local SES and Ambulance SCAT officers at about 9pm. Based
on his report of the location as well as a GPS position (recorded
before he left the patient) the search party established the
patient's position. The search party then proceeded to descend Morong
Falls towards the Kowmung but stopped in heavy rain at about 11pm due
to the difficult conditions. At dawn they continued down and reached
the patient at 9am.
After administering first aid the rescuers requested a helicopter for
the evacuation. At 11am the weather cleared and the Wespac LifeSaver
helicopter evacuated the patient and the rescue team. The patient was
airlifted to Nepean Hospital where he had two sessions of surgery.
LEVEL 5 REPORT