Assynt Mountain Rescue Team and emergency services rescue stroke victim from remote Bone Caves north of Ullapool with ‘quick-thinking’ Apple iPhone mercy call
A suspected stroke victim was airlifted from near a north-west Highland beauty spot after a satellite call by a quick-thinking fellow hiker.
Assynt Mountain Rescue Team responded to an alert from Police Scotland to help the Scottish Ambulance Service reach the person who had fallen ill at the renowned Bones Caves in Sutherland.
A coastguard helicopter from Stornoway was also scrambled given the urgency of the need for medical help.
Assynt MRT’s team leader Ben Dyson has singled out for special praise the member of the public who made the SOS call after the dramatic rescue on Thursday afternoon.
There is no mobile phone reception at the Bone Caves of Inchnadamph, rare limestone formations, where scientists have discovered the only evidence of the past existence of polar bears in Scotland.
In a social media post, a spokesman for Assynt MRT said last night: “(We) were tasked today by Police Scotland Highland & Islands to assist the Scottish Ambulance Service with a walker at the Bones Caves who had a suspected stroke.
“Due to the potentially serious nature of the situation, coastguard helicopter Rescue 948 from Stornoway was tasked and was able to lift the casualty to the waiting helimed for onward travel to hospital.
“There is no mobile network coverage at the Bone Caves, so a quick-thinking member of the public used the satellite SOS function on their iPhone to alert the emergency services.”
Details on how to use the lifesaving function can be found HERE.
Tips for helping and identifying a suspected stroke victim with the FAST system (Face dropping, Arm weaknesses, Speech difficulties, Time to call 999) can be found HERE.
The "Bone Caves" of Inchnadamph were found to contain relics of Eurasian lynx, brown bear, Arctic fox, and reindeer dated to 47,000 BC.
Also unearthed in 1995 was the only evidence of polar bears so far found in Scotland, and human skeletons dated to the 3rd millennium BC.
The skeleton of a bear thought to be 11,000 years old or more was removed from the caves in 2008.
