Sat-nav image used to rescue walker

An injured hillwalker near Glendalough, Co Wicklow, yesterday photographed the screen of his sat-nav device showing his location…

An injured hillwalker near Glendalough, Co Wicklow, yesterday photographed the screen of his sat-nav device showing his location and sent the image by mobile phone to rescuers – which they said was the first time they had received such data this way.

Weather was unsuitable for a helicopter evacuation, with wind, rain, hail and poor visibility at times. Members of the Glen of Imaal Red Cross Mountain Rescue and the Dublin/Wickow Mountain Rescue carried the man, aged 65, from the Lugduff Spinc mountain trail on a stretcher for two hours to reach the ambulance.

“Interestingly, the man used his phone to take a photo of his GPS screen to send his location co-ordinates via text to the rescue services,” a spokesman for the rescuers said. “This is the first time that someone has used this particular method to alert us of their location.”