Crab,
Mostly true, but a few points worth adding:
- the ambulance controllers are as good as the information they're given. In this afternoon's case, the initial responders told ambulance control they had walked up past at least one area "big and flat enough to get the helicopter in". They're the ones on scene, they have to be believed.
- on our way to the coast, we did advise you and your ops of the nature of the task to which we were travelling. You may remember we even stated that you might wish to consider the possibility that your resources would be more appropriate, subject to what we found on arrival.
Having said all that, we didn't prolong the on-site assessment and soon affirmed what we'd considered en-route: it was a job best suited to SAR. We could've acted thick and "gone it alone", but that wasn't in the best interests of the patient. Very glad we didn't choose to lug her up the hill to where we'd parked - you probably didn't see the Coastguard stumble and fall as he helped carry the stretcher down the easier slope to your Sits site.
Pics are on a CD and on their way to you tomorrow, or with the 2 paramedics who're coming over for a famil very soon (both of whom were on todays crew, btw). I'll pop a couple over on the Pics thread here, too.