Mosar team rescues another climber suffering from cramps and hypothermia

 By Olivia Miwil - January 26, 2022 @ 8:34pm

About 4am, a rescue team was deployed to the sick bay of Panalaban to help the local woman who suffered from muscle cramps and hypothermia. - Pic courtesy of Fire and Rescue Department

RANAU: The Mountain Search and Rescue (Mosar) team today received a distress call involving a female climber at Mount Kinabalu.

About 4am, a rescue team was deployed to the sick bay of Panalaban to help the local woman who suffered from muscle cramps and hypothermia.

It was learnt that the temperature at the site, which was about 2,000m above sea level, was between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius.

"Mosar gave the woman oxygen and ensured her body temperature returned to normal.

"After that, the victim was carried using the Robinson stretcher to the Timpohon Gate," it said in a statement, adding that the operation ended at 4.05pm.

The 12-hour operation saw the Mosar team carrying the victim for about 6km from Panalaban, which is the last pit stop before one starts ascending to the summit, to the starting point at the Timpohon Gate.

This month alone, the district Fire and Rescue Department's Mosar unit has responded to seven cases involving climbers on Mount Kinabalu.

There were nine cases throughout last year during the intermittent closure of climbing activities due to movement control orders to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.