Remote Canyoning Rescue in Taiwan: Pelvic Injury, Wilderness First Aid, and Helicopter Evacuation

What happened?

We were deep in a remote canyon in the Taiwanese mountains when a bolt pulled out of the wall. Bram fell eight meters, hitting a ledge side-on before bouncing into the water. Entangled in rope and floating on his pack, he called out for help. I immediately dove into the water and swam to him using a rescue stroke, keeping his airway above the surface at all times. I dragged him to a small beach and began assessing his condition.

Bram told me, “It’s bad—I’m not walking out.” He was in severe pain and unable to move. I activated our rescueME PLB1 (Personal Locator Beacon) and swam it across the pool to a more open area where it would have better line-of-sight for signal transmission. After that, I returned to Bram and started swimming him to a larger, drier beach on the far side of the pool. He complained of intense pain in his right hip.

When we reached the end of the pool, Bram refused to let us move him out of the water. He insisted on staying in, still wearing his wetsuit. Recognizing the risk of hypothermia, I asked Jason to help me retrieve the tarp from our pack. Together, we used it as a makeshift stretcher to lift Bram out of the water. He screamed in pain, but I knew getting him dry and warm was critical.

Once on dry ground, Jason began collecting firewood while I boiled water to prepare hot water bottles for Bram. We gave him paracetamol and ibuprofen to manage his pain. I then used a space blanket and a carabiner to improvise a pelvic splint, securing his pelvis with adequate tension. I also bound his feet with a sling to stabilize his legs and hips. We monitored his vital signs every 5–10 minutes initially, and they remained stable.

As Jason kept the fire going, I carefully cut away Bram’s wetsuit with a canyoning knife, avoiding any leg movement. Once it was removed, we slid dry bags under his body and dressed him in thermal layers, a raincoat, and rain pants. I replaced his wet socks with dry ones, then rewrapped his feet to maintain warmth.

Jason attempted to climb the ridge to get cell signal, but was turned back by impassable cliffs. He returned to camp. Through the night, we refilled the hot water bottles regularly and maintained the fire. We also had green leaves ready to throw on the fire to create smoke if we heard aircraft nearby. They prepared a foil blanket and a bright bothy bag for visual signaling.

I planned to hike downstream early the next morning to try for reception if we weren’t rescued overnight. We built a rope stretcher, hoping to move Bram higher up from the waterline, but his pain was too severe for us to move him.

We continued to keep him warm until the helicopter arrived. A helicopter winched me out at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. I had assumed they would take all of us, but due to the lack of a Stokes litter and the approaching dusk, they could only evacuate one person. Rescuers reached Bram and Jason the following morning, after they endured a long, difficult night focused on staying warm and alive.

Words of wisdom

Bring a fire starting kit, a pot to boil water, a few bottles you can put boiling water in that won’t deform, this can prevent hypothermia.

A few foil blankets are also great for creating a pelvic splint, and keeping you warm and signalling  helicopters.

Thank you note to the Ocean Signal team

Thankyou for creating a product that sent out a distress signal within 10 minutes of it being activated.