By Callum Ludwig
An arduous cliff rescue in Wesburn has provided a timely reminder to remain cautious when sightseeing in the Upper Yarra and Yarra Ranges.
It took over four hours for the man who fell down the old quarry in Wesburn to be safely rescued.
Fourth Lieutenant at Wandin Fire Brigade Phillip Smith was called out to the incident as a member of their steep-angle ropes team and said their understanding is that a young man was taking photographs of the sunset before he fell.
“He sustained some head and hip injuries which meant he couldn’t get himself out of there. SES went out to assist and it wasn’t suitable for what they could do, so they called us and the Monbulk CFA who have limited members trained in rope rescue but it was beyond us too,” he said.
“Fire Rescue Victoria in Dandenong is trained in high-angle rope rescue and they were paged at the same time as us and we all worked together well to get the young man back down to the road.”
A stop was put to the incident at 2.05am.
Mr Smith said the primary goal in rope rescue incidents is to prevent further injury in getting the patient to medical care.
“The way we set up our rope systems is we have to find anchors to set up from and they need to be suitable so we can trust them that they’re not going to fail and, and cause not only us injury but more injury to the patient,” he said.
“That was the limiting factor for us on that job is in the old quarry there, there was basically nothing that we had to anchor off of, and that’s where FRV came in with their additional training to be able to establish complex anchors.”
Anchors are commonly established on nearby trees or vehicles, but with more complex scenarios like the quarry rescue, these may not be available and alternatives are required.
Mr Smith said aspiring explorers should avoid going out on their own and if they are, make sure someone knows where they’re going and when they when can expect you back.
“We’ve got lots of places like this, the disused quarries, Mt Donna Bunag or the Britannia Creek caves. When the weather gets better people tend to go out and explore these places and sometimes they get themselves into trouble, we end up everywhere from the Cathedral Ranges to Woods Point,” he said.
“Not every CFA does this, Wandin and Monbulk are two of only half a dozen in the state who do. We really want the community to know our brigade members are willing to go above and beyond. Everyone at the incident communicated and worked really well and everyone from multiple agencies played their part really well.”
Ambulance Victoria confirmed the male in his teens was taken to Maroondah Hospital in a stable condition with an upper-body injury.
