Sisters in the Wild Gravel Bike Weekend
In June, Shelter Stone provided base camp medical and on course response team cover for the Sisters in the Wild Summer Gathering - a gravel biking adventure weekend in the Lake District.
While most of the events that Shelter Stone provides services to are trail, ultra and mountain running events, our teams also have the expertise and capability to support other events including hiking / walks, mountain / gravel biking, swimming and other watersports. Each bring their own specific considerations, typical injuries and medical incidents, and planning for response team cover, and our team is well equipped to advise on the appropriate level of cover. For Sisters in the Wild we proposed a medical team at the base camp, with a roving response team situated at strategic points covering the biking routes each day.
A key benefit of using Shelter Stone medical services is reducing the impact your event has on local emergency resources (for example A&E, mountain rescue teams, and so on). The photos below show a typical laceration injury we might see on any event (for example such as could be caused by a puncture wound falling off a bike). In this case our healthcare professionals on site were able to clean the wound, apply steri-strips and dressing, and advise on self-care, without the need for a trip to A&E.
Other incidents consisted almost universally of minor scrapes and/or cuts as a result of falls from the bikes. Thankfully for the participants there were no more serious incidents, but given the nature of the biking activity, there is always potential for high acuity low occurrence (HALO) medical incidents as a result of underlying medical conditions, or a more significant biking injury on a less accessible part of the course, and our teams were well placed to provide optimal participant care, while minimising impact to local health and rescue resources, should they occur.
Hetty Kingston - organiser for Sisters in the Wild - said:
“The Shelter Stone team were fantastic - they struck the perfect balance between being highly professional and warm, calm, and approachable. From the moment they arrived, we felt completely confident that we were in safe hands, which allowed everyone to relax and fully enjoy the weekend.
Their presence was reassuring without ever feeling overbearing, and it was clear they were experienced and well-prepared for anything that might come up. Having an all-women team felt especially important to us - it brought such a positive energy to the gathering and really aligned with the ethos of our event. Big thanks to Sarah, Lucy and the rest of the team.”
Photo credits: 1 Keri Belshaw, 2 & 3: Sarah Hewitt Photograph
If you are interested in getting the very best professional medical and rescue services for your event - whatever adventure sport you are into! - check out our Services and don’t hesitate to Get in Touch. If you are a suitably experience mountain rescue team member or healthcare professional and interested in what we do, see how you can Work for Us.