If It Goes Wrong on the Trail

First, the honest bit: this page is a guide, not a substitute for proper training. If you ride regularly, the single best thing you can do is take a day's outdoor or bike-specific first-aid course (Cycling UK and others run them). It's a day well spent. In a real emergency, always call 999 — and if you're not sure what to do, the call handler will talk you through it.

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Why does it matter more here

The Forest of Dean is a big, wooded, working forest, and parts of it are genuinely remote. Phone signal is patchy, trails can be hard for an ambulance to reach, and help may be a while coming. That's exactly why knowing how to call for help, give your location, and keep someone stable matters more off-road than it does on the high street.
 

If someone crashes — the first 60 seconds

Straight from the advice of paramedics and British Cycling:

1. Stay calm and stay safe. Don't rush in and become a second casualty. On a fast trail, get someone to warn other riders coming down — move bikes off the trail. Take a breath before you act.

2. Check the basics. Are they conscious? Breathing? Complaining of neck, back, or belly pain? Confused, slurred, or not quite "with it"? Breathing is the priority — if they're not breathing, that's a 999-and-start-CPR situation, and the call handler will guide you.

3. Don't move them if you suspect a head, neck or spinal injury — unless they're in immediate danger where they are. "If in doubt, don't move" is the safe default.

4. Keep them warm and still. Injured people go cold and into shock quickly, even on a warm day. A jacket or a foil blanket over them makes a real difference while you wait.
 

Calling for help — and giving your location

This is the bit that's specific to riding here, and it's the most useful thing on this page.

Call 999 (or 112 — it works even with low signal, and can connect on any network). Ask for an ambulance. If you can't get through, it's worth knowing you can register your phone to text 999 in advance (do it now, at home — search "register emergency SMS") — a text often gets out where a call won't.

Give your location precisely. "The third berm on Freeminers" means nothing to a dispatcher. Use:

• what3words — the emergency services use it. So download the App and keep it on your phone. The app gives a unique 3-word square for wherever you're standing.

• Grid reference if you have it — the cycle centre is SO 607125.

• Or the nearest recognisable landmark and car park.

Then call Forestry England on 0300 067 4800 to let them know there's an incident in the forest.

No signal at all? Send someone to a high point or back to the car park to call — but don't split a group down to a lone person, and don't leave a casualty alone if you can help it. Three blasts on a whistle (many pack straps have one) is a recognised distress signal.
 

The common ones

• Cuts & grazes: clean them, cover them. Gloves on if it's someone else's blood. Most trail cuts are manageable; deep ones or anything with grit or a branch embedded needs proper cleaning and possibly stitches — get it seen.

• Collarbone & shoulder: one of the most common MTB injuries. Let the casualty hold the arm however's most comfortable — "sling what they bring," a jacket works — and get them to A&E.

• Suspected fracture: don't move it, don't straighten it, support it in the position found, and get help.

• Head knocks: take them seriously. Ask simple questions ("What day is it?"). Any confusion, drowsiness, unequal pupils, slurred speech, or repeated vomiting → 999. Head injuries can worsen over time, so keep checking. And replace a helmet after any real impact — the protection's already been used.
   

What to carry in your backpack

A small first aid kit is recommended. Including;

• Gloves and a couple of wound dressings / large plasters

• A bandage (doubles as sling support)

• Antiseptic wipes

• A foil blanket (tiny, light, genuinely important for shock)

• Painkillers you know you're OK with.
   

• A fully charged phone — and ideally a small power bank

• A whistle (often already on your pack strap)

• Basic bike tools — because a mechanical miles out can become a cold, dark walk, which is its own kind of emergency

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The emergency numbers, in one place

• Emergency: 999 or 112 → ask for an ambulance

• Then inform Forestry England: 0300 067 4800

• Nearest A&E (24hr): Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Gloucester — 0300 422 2222

• Nearest Minor Injuries Unit: Forest of Dean Community Hospital, Cinderford — 111

• Your location: what3words ///editor.enlighten.mysteries · grid ref SO 607125
  (Cannop Cycle Centre Car Park)