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Straits Times, 18 Jan 05 Improve safety checks at quarry, say climbers related article: The Straits Times, 23 Jan 05 Helmet could have saved expat rock-climber By Tracy Quek THE latest death of a rock-climber at the Dairy Farm Quarry has sparked calls from the climbing fraternity for new safety checks. Last Saturday's accident is the second reported death at the quarry. In October 2000, 23-year-old Steven Chee, a technician, fell to his death while scaling a near-vertical cliff at the quarry. Some instructors and owners of climbing schools said they have stopped visiting the place in recent years because they do not feel the rocks there are stable. One of the owners of climbing school Climb Adventure, Mr Amir Moostafa, used to go to the quarry three times a week, but stopped climbing there four years ago. The owner of climbing school Climb Asia, Mr Mohammad Halil, 34, also stopped going there a few years back. He used to head there every weekend. 'I've witnessed a lot of rocks falling after heavy rain,' said the co-author of the handbook Climb Singapore, which has information on climbing areas like the Dairy Farm Quarry. That said, he maintains that if climbers follow standard safety precautions, like using a helmet, proper harness and ropes, they would fall just 2m to 3m if they lose their footing. Nevertheless, both men are all for the Singapore Mountaineering Federation's looking into improving safety levels at the quarry. These could include spot checks by park wardens and more signs at the quarry to warn people about the dangers of the terrain. A committee member of the federation, Mr Wilfred Tok, 36, said that it is important to control more inexperienced climbers' access to the quarry. 'The conditions there change throughout the year and it's definitely more dangerous than climbing in a rock gym.' Mr Tok, a rock-climbing instructor who climbs at the quarry about once every fortnight, also hopes to set up a feedback mechanism so that seasoned climbers who see a change in the natural terrain can inform the federation, which can then warn other climbers. The quarry, which attracts climbers mostly on weekends, is a public area not monitored by anyone. The Straits Times, 23 Jan 05 Helmet could have saved expat rock-climber By Tracy Quek Briton, who was lead climbing, was trying to secure rope when he fell A BRITISH IT consultant who died while rock-climbing at a quarry last Saturday was not wearing a helmet - a precaution which might have saved his life. Five others climbing with Mr James Creffield were also helmet-less. One of them was American expatriate Michael McNeely, 39, who gave details of the accident for the first time since Mr Creffield's death at the Dairy Farm Quarry, near Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. He told The Sunday Times that Mr Creffield, 39, was about 5m from the ground when he slipped, fell backwards and hit the back of his head on a parapet jutting from the rock face. Mr Creffield was lead climbing, responsible for securing the climbing rope to various holds along the route up the rock face. He was trying to fix the rope to the second hold when he slipped. The impact probably fractured the back of his skull and injured his brain stem which controls body functions such as breathing, said Dr Lee Kheng Hin, a consultant neurosurgeon at Gleneagles Medical Centre. 'If he was wearing a good safety helmet, one which covered the back of his head, his chances of survival might have been better,' Dr Lee added. The climb was not Mr Creffield's first of the day, and he was in high spirits, said Dr McNeely, an American with a doctorate in bioengineering. 'I was climbing up a route beside him when he fell. I didn't see it but heard him hit the rock wall. By the time they lowered me to him, he had stopped breathing and had no pulse.' Dr McNeely, who says he is a certified emergency medical technician and mountain rescue technician, performed chest compressions while another climber gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. That got Mr Creffield breathing again. When Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) medics arrived, they attached an electrocardiograph machine to monitor his heart and inserted an artificial airway into his mouth. Oxygen was not immediately administered, said Dr McNeely. An SCDF spokesman said medics administered oxygen and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation in the ambulance, and rushed Mr Creffield to the National University Hospital. Last Saturday's accident is the second reported death at the quarry, a public area popular with rock climbers. Dr McNeely said that under the circumstances, a helmet was not needed. 'I knew that we would be climbing one at a time and the danger from rocks falling from above would be minimal.' He met Mr Creffield, whose wife is Anglo-Chinese Junior College teacher Geeta Creffield, 36, at an indoor climbing centre a few days before the climb. It was Dr McNeely's first time at the quarry. Rock-climbing enthusiasts said experienced rock climbers hardly, if ever, wore helmets. Mr Mohammad Halil, 34, owner of climbing school Climb Asia, said: 'For seasoned climbers, climbing is like walking. We know when we're going to fall. We brace ourselves for it, and it's unlikely that we will hit our heads.' Instructors said they insist on helmets for beginners. 'Novices don't know how to fall and there is a possibility they could hurt their heads,' said Mr Rasip Isnin, 43, secretary of the Mountaineering Federation of Singapore. The federation plans to work with the authorities to ensure that the quarry is safe for climbers. One possibility is to station officials at the site on weekends. For Dr McNeely, the accident will not stop him climbing outdoors. 'But next time, I'd be more inclined to wear a helmet, particularly when lead climbing.' links Related articles on Re-creation in our wild places |
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