AN 18-year-old, who said “instinct” kicked in when her team mate was injured during an expedition in the Yorkshire Dales, has been recognised for her selfless actions.
Annie Taylor, who is a member of the Staindrop section of the Teesdale Scout Network, has been presented with the organisation’s Medal for Meritorious Conduct for her actions during an emergency while on an assessed Duke of Edinburgh gold expedition earlier this year.
She was one of a team of four Scouts taking part in an 80km expedition in the Yorkshire Dales. However, on the first day of the four-day trek one of her team mates sustained an injury.
Annie, who has been an Explorer Scout for four years, said: “My instinct was to keep Freya warm. She had a back injury and was in and out of consciousness.”
The injury prevented the group from carrying on and the team were left exposed on the side of the fells.
Annie called for assistance from the fell rescue service, giving an accurate grid reference of their position and carrying out all the emergency medical procedures herself.
She added: “I gave the others tasks to do to keep them distracted from the severity of the situation.
“The first aid was basically keeping Freya talking, calm, hydrated and warm because we were there until about 9pm on a hill in extremely cold conditions.”
Annie’s Explorer Scout leader and the assessor were first to arrive at a nearby farm to meet the fell rescue team.
Andrew Carr, district explorer Scout commissioner for Teesdale, said: “On arrival at the location it was clear that everything was being done correctly by Annie and the team, the casualty was being correctly looked after, treated and the area was marked for the fell rescue arriving.”
She told the rescue team of the casualty’s condition on arrival and treatment was administered. They were then able to take over and extract the casualty from the fells while Annie led her team down.
Mr Carr added: “Throughout the incident Annie did not panic and kept a good level head, enabling the incident to be resolved quickly and calmly.
“Annie is a great young lady who exemplifies what the Scout Association is and stands for.”
After all involved in the incident nominated Annie for the Medal for Meritorious Conduct, she received the award from county commissioner David Stokes.
“I didn’t believe it when I got told about the award because it felt like it was something I just should have done. I did it all without thinking because of the first response training we’ve done.”
In addition to receiving the award she and her team mates passed their Duke of Edinburgh gold expedition as well.
Annie will also attend the St George’s Day Parade, in Windsor Castle, next year, which will be attended by royalty.
