MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Chanel Shaw (19) from Mossel Bay was involved in the intricate rescue of two hikers in the Plattekloof Gorge on Table Mountain, Cape Town.
On Monday, 26 February, she was part of a team that helped one of the hikers down from the mountain in a rescue basket.
Chanel, who was a Point High School learner, is in her second year of Emergency Medical Care studies at Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Studying
She is studying to be an emergency care practitioner (ECP). While in Mossel Bay she was a lifesaver for the Mossel Bay Surf Lifesaving Club (MBSLC) and she is a member of the Eden Surfing team.
At Point she was a prefect and played first team hockey.
Chanel told Mossel Bay Advertiser that on Sunday, 25 February, at about 17:00, a group of hikers on Table Mountain phoned an emergency number for help, saying two of them were extremely fatigued.
One of the two apparently had an ankle injury. Altogether nearly 50 people were involved in the rescue. A helicopter would have been used but a strong wind made this impossible.
Overnight
Emergency personnel and medics were sent up the mountain on Sunday and they stayed on the mountain overnight.
Chanel said she was part of a team of second-year students and two lecturers from the university who had been asked to help as a back-up for the rescuers.
There were eight in her team. They were asked to be on standby. Two other rescue teams switched on Monday morning because one of the teams was fatigued after being on the mountain all night.
Ready
Chanel said: "We were ready to go up the mountain in the morning, but they told us to stand down for a little while as the other rescue teams were busy with the patients.
"At 12:30 they called us to assist. When we got to Table Mountain one patient was being carried down in a rescue basket. The rescue team was very tired. They sent us up to retrieve the second patient. We loaded him on to the rescue basket."
Chanel said her team brought the man down Plattekloof Gorge safely by 17:00 on Monday, 24 hours after the initial emergency call.
'Unity'
"It was a great experience to work together in unity with my own team and other professional rescue team members and the adrenaline was pumping.
"Even though it was tiring, it was rewarding and as we sat down after the rescue to debrief, everybody was happy. The patients were also glad to be down the mountain, safely."
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