Northern Farm MTB death

[WrightJnr]

Very sad. Absolutely no words. 

 

It is unfortunate that no medical staff available, of course I think you sign an indemnity of the sort when you choose to ride there (or anywhere) in any case. But with the amount of riders through NF every weekend, and that they only allow Sat&Sun you would think that they could afford an ambulance for the day...Why not create some community awareness at the same time where the trained medical staff offer basic first aid training to the local community members that live of NF..

[Lance Roberts]

That's horrible.

RIP to the rider, and condolences to the father and her family.

[Robbie Stewart]

This is just too sad. I cannot imagine her dad's anguish. To lose you daughter like that must hurt so bad. I pray he, and his family, finds peace and comfort in this tragedy.

 

As for the medical assistance, I have been evacuated before by people who helped me after a fall. I have also witnessed 2 emergency medical response teams (WC Provincial AMS as well as ER24) respond to a crash at Hoogekraal. After their arrival, the ER24 helicopter was summoned to evacuate the fallen rider. This was about a month ago.

 

Does Gauteng not have this service, or is this just a WC thing?

Pontificating will not bring her back though.

[m-squared]

RIP

 

Strength to the family and friends during this trying time.

 

There's going to be a lot of finger pointing about what should or should not have been done.  It doesn't bring the daughter back but hopefully this raises awareness and action going forward.

[SwissVan]

Very sad and sobering news

 

No matter where and what you ride, things can go wrong so easily. Hopefully we all can learn from things like this to prepare ourselves for that “just in case” situation

[Bonus]

I've seen some accidents at NF over the years, but I don't recall there ever being a fatality.

 

RIP rider.

[FirstV8]

Sad news RIP fellow cyclist . I use NAMOLA and its accessible to everybody and your assistance comes from nearest paramedics , security company . 

[Oufy MTB (Roadie)]

2 things is clear.

 

#1 Every trail owner should have a risk management plan that highlights the manner in which to deal with an emergency, trained First Aiders, calling the aunty that is the nurse, having an agreement with the local ambulance, whatever, there should be a plan. Plan must be clearly visible at trail entrance. We can't expect an ambulance to be on standby but the plan should be clear.

 

#2 Every MTB rider should read the plan and take down the necessary contact details at the entrance. and then have the buddy system.

 

In emergencies, response time is critical.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Sjoe, what a terrible experience for all involved, condolences.

 

This also highlights the importance of a good medical aid if you want quick emergence response times, it could have been the difference between her living and passing away :-(

[ChrisF]

My hart goes out to her family !!

 

 

 

But "we" (MTB riders) needs to be realistic as well.  Just Tygerberg has long surpassed 200km worth of trails, covering MANY farms.  Expecting the club to provide medical assistance is unrealistic.  And if we put any pressure on farm owners we will loose link trails, if not most of the trails ...

 

 

We KNOW this is a high risk sport !

 

Make SURE your ICE details are readily available.  

 

 

 

EDIT - just spoke to my broker, best advice is to add your medical aid phone number onto the ICE card .... bystanders can then phone the medical aid directly, and describe your condition as best they can, and where you are.

Edited October 7, 2019 by ChrisF

[The real buffalo]

Good day all, I volunteer at Northern Farm along with the rest of the committee who oversee the various recreational activities there. 

 

We, the committee and working staff at Northern Farm are deeply saddened by the loss of the rider on the 6th of October 2019. Our sincere condolences are with the families, friends and loved ones during this difficult time. 

 

We urge riders to always have their emergency contact details on hand, and that emergency services must always be the 1st point of call for any incident. 

 

Please save your emergency contact details under the name ICE (In Case of Emergency) on your phone. 

 

Thank you all for your words of support and advice. 

Edited October 7, 2019 by The real buffalo

[ABrooks]

My hart goes out to her family !!

 

 

 

But "we" (MTB riders) needs to be realistic as well.  Just Tygerberg has long surpassed 200km worth of trails, covering MANY farms.  Expecting the club to provide medical assistance is unrealistic.  And if we put any pressure on farm owners we will loose link trails, if not most of the trails ...

 

 

We KNOW this is a high risk sport !

 

Make SURE your ICE details are readily available.  

 

 

 

EDIT - just spoke to my broker, best advice is to add your medical aid phone number onto the ICE card .... bystanders can then phone the medical aid directly, and describe your condition as best they can, and where you are.

 

I think most people understand that an ambulance can't be on standby all the time, but if you call the place you are riding at with an emergency, you sort of expect them to be able to make arrangements with the ambulance or some other type of first responder and not just be given different phone numbers to see which one might be useful.

 

Places offering trails were we have to pay to ride should have some sort of emergency plan in place to assist you for when someone calls them.

[MudLark]

I tend to agree. The apparent complete shambles when a life threatening emergency was called in is a total disgrace.

[the nerd]

The rider was a third year med student. How sad, that should someone else been in need she could have assisted!

 

RIP and my hope is her family can find strength in this terrible time.

[King_Crispy]

I tend to agree. The apparent complete shambles when a life threatening emergency was called in is a total disgrace.

I agree.

I've had to wait with a bloke for almost 2 hours for a bake to arrive to take him to hospital.

He went otb and broke his collarbone. His wife phoned the NF emergency number but he was hysterical about waiting so long and being in so much pain

[Peter - MSAR GP]

Hi Guys, absolutely tragic.

 

There are 2 VOLUNTEER teams you can call. Mountain Search & Rescue is the rescue team for the Mountain Club of SA. The other is ORRU, the off road rescue unit.

 

https://mcsajohannesburg.org/search-and-rescue/

 

https://orru.co.za/

 

As volunteer rescue teams we will assist with available resources and information where possible. We work closely with medical services and have some volunteer medics. Just remember there is no guarantee anyone can get to you in time due to the nature of riding and hiking etc. but we will always assist as far as possible.