Police revise 999 protocol after climbers' deaths on Snowdon

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 27 Oct, 22:08 · Archive

North Wales Police has overhauled how it handles emergency calls from mountains following the deaths of two climbers whose call was disconnected.

Jayden Long, 19, and Eddie Hill, 20, died after travelling from Norwich to climb Snowdon in February. They parked at Pen y Pass car park on 18 February to begin their ascent. A message from Mr Hill to his girlfriend indicated that worsening weather had forced the pair to turn back.

At 4.27pm, Mr Long contacted North Wales Police, but the call was disconnected. When played back, audio captured him saying 'hello' and 'can you hear me?'. Police attempted to ring him back without success. Mountain rescue services were not alerted by the force until 7.38pm, more than three hours after the initial call.

The climbers were discovered dead at 11.04am the following day after falling down steep terrain covered in ice and snow. An inquest ruled their deaths accidental. However, assistant coroner Sarah Riley found North Wales Police lacked a standardised procedure guiding call handlers dealing with emergency communications from remote or mountainous regions. She also highlighted inadequate systems for sharing lessons learned and warned of a 'significant risk of future deaths' unless action was taken.

In response, North Wales Police confirmed its updated guidance now instructs staff receiving silent or disconnected 999 calls from confirmed remote or mountainous locations to consider alerting mountain rescue.

How it is being reported

• Change to mountain 999 calls after two young hikers dieA police force has changed how it handles failed 999 reports made from mountains following the deaths of two young climbers whose phone calls were cut off.Metro · 27 Oct, 21:56
• Police overhaul 999 mountain call rules after deaths of Norfolk climbers in WalesThe two climbers died back in February after travelling from Norwich to climb Mount SnowdonThe Independent · 27 Oct, 19:48

In this story: Jayden Long · Eddie Hill · Mount Snowdon · Norwich · North Wales Police · Sarah Riley

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