WEATHER conditions on Dartmoor last Saturday caused major problems for the Devon Air Ambulance, and a training exercise for Naval recruits turned into a real life rescue.

The Devon Air Ambulance was dispatched after a call to attend a 14 year-old casualty who had fallen from his horse approximately two miles from the nearest road in the Burrator area.

Paramedic Nigel Hare said fog prevented them from landing at the scene of the accident.

'Normally this situation would result in the helicopter aborting the mission and returning to base in favour of a land ambulance, but in view of the reports of the casualty's injuries we decided to land as close as we could and attempt to walk to the patient,' he said.

The paramedics came across a group of trainee Naval recruits from HMS Raleigh who were on a navigation and leadership exercise and were recruited to help.

The three members of the air crew with the help of the recruits soon found the patient — who was found to be suffering from head, back and chest injuries and was very cold.

The Naval team's Land Rover met the group at the closest possible point — still a mile away from the scene of the accident — with the team from HMS Raleigh carrying the stretcher to it.

The patient was then taken by road ambulance to Derriford Hospital but his injuries were stated not to be life-threatening. Nigel Hare said the the boy's condition would have deteriorated had he not been taken off the moor as quickly as he was. The whole process took two and a half hours.