In mountain rescue we often find ourselves working alongside a number of other rescue teams and members of the emergency services. Being able to work together effectively can be the key to dealing with large, complex or serious incidents. Over the course of a typical year we will work with:

  • Other Mountain Rescue Teams
  • SARDA
  • The Police
  • The Fire Service
  • The North West Ambulance Service
  • First Responders
  • The Great North Air Ambulance
  • The North West Air Ambulance
  • The Coast Guard

 

Other Teams

We normally work with other teams in one of three circumstances:

  • when a team comes to assist us
  • when we are asked to assist another team
  • as a joint response

Joint training events are another way of us working together e.g. Swiftwater, rope rescue and medical seminars.

Teams Assisting Each Other

If we have multiple simultaneous rescues, don't have enough people turning out, the carry out is long or we need additional people with specific skills such as rope rescue or swiftwater we will ask for help from Kendal MRT in the first instance. If we still don't have enough people we will ask for assistance from Coniston or Patterdale depending upon the location.  

The majority of times we work with another team it's Kendal, usually with them assisting us. It's a welcome relief to see Kendal coming up the hill to assist with a long carry out! As a result of the number of times we work together our teams have a close working relationship, with the leadership groups of both teams receiving alerts for both teams to ensure we are ready to assist each other at short notice. Although it happens occasionally, due to our already high workload it's relatively rare we will be call in to assist another team on one of their rescues unless it borders our area or then need certain skills or equipment we possess. Instead they will call for assistance from one of their quieter neighbours.

The end of a long night shared with 4 members of Kendal MRT's rope team after a difficult climbing incident on Gimmer Crag, everyone looks pretty tired!

During searches we will sometimes meet up on the hill e.g. Keswick may come up from Seathwaite and we would walk up from Langdale to meet around the Esk Hause area; or on Fairfield, we may be searching the Dove Crag area and meet with Patterdale who are covering the Hartsop above How ridge.  

We can also share equipment or skills with other teams. We have a piece of kit called an AutoPulse which is used for mechanical chest compressions. Not all teams have one and if a team needs one or needs a back up for one in use then we will dispatch a team of 4 people with the AutoPulse to help another team. If we have a big climbing incident and not enough of our own climbers are available then we would ask Kendal to send us some of their ropes team to help.

 

Joint Responses

When a large incident occurs or an incident is on the border between two teams, but there is uncertainty about the location, the police may alert two or more teams. This has occurred several times with winter traffic accidents on Kirkstone and in a recent rescue Patterdale and LAMRT worked together to get a casualty down from Stoney Cove Pike through Pasture Bottom to Hartsop (a very long carry). 

Where a search area can potentially stretch across the areas of a number of teams, the team with responsibility for the principle search area will take the lead coordinating the response and ask others to search the areas leading into their area or provide additional personnel to help them cover their more group quickly. For us this type of multi-team search is most often seen in the central fells with the missing person(s) having gone missing on or near Sca Fell Pike, in which case Wasdale will coordinate the search with Duddon, Keswick and ourselves covering the routes leading from our respective areas.

Recognising the specialist nature of water incidents, a regional water response group has been set up to allow teams to rapidly access Swiftwater Rescue Technicians from other teams. If the water response group is activated, members of the group receive an alert directly from the group leaders and can deploy without the Team officially being involved.  

SARDA

Search dogs from the Lake District arm of the Search and Rescue Dog Association will be deployed on most searches as the dogs are an invaluable tool for clearing large areas of ground, particularly in difficult weather conditions where viability is limited. 

Search dog handlers are all active members of mountain rescue teams, so in the first instance we will deploy our own dogs, but if more are needed a 'dog page' will go out asking for dogs from across the county. This can see them operating in unfamiliar areas, so typically a search dog handler will paired with a team members to help with navigation and communications.

 

Police

We are accountable to the Police and are tasked by them. The 'Sarcall' log allows us to keep in touch with and update them in real time during rescues. Whilst most of our work is undertaken on the hill there may be times when we are asked to search for missing people in urban settings. This will be co-ordinated with the police and can be run from Windermere police station.

Police officers will also be involved and work along side use when dealing with road traffic accidents, attempted suicides, deaths and public emergencies such as major flooding.

Working with the Fire Service on Kirkstone Pass to evacuate a casualty following a RTC 

Fire Service

Whencalled to assist with a road traffic incident, the fire service will usually be called to extract someone trapped in a car or secure the vehicle before the ambulance service and ourselves can approach.

Kirkstone and Wyrnose Pass can be treacherous in winter as conditions deteriorate quickly and visitors following Sat Nav directions do not know how dangerous the roads can be.

The Fire Brigade also have swiftwater capabilities and we can find ourselves working along side them when dealing with flooding or river searches.

 

 

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS)

Most rescues will involve the Ambulance Service either because we are handing over a casualty to them after we have returned to the roadside or because they have requested our assistance with an incident they are already dealing with.

Where an incidents is close to the road, paramedics may have already responded and treated the casualty, but found they need our help to transport the casualty to the land ambulance. These are known as ambulance assists and are usually short simple rescues, but every once in a while it turns out the Ambulance crew aren't on scene yet, so we always have to respond as if we will be providing the care. 

 

Helicopters (NWAA, GNAA, Coastguard)

Working together with the paramedics from helimed 08 

We often work alongside our regions air ambulances and the Coastguards rescue helicopters.

We have two air ambulances operating in our area:

  • Great North Air Ambulance (GNAA), known operationally as helimed 58; and
  • North West Air Ambulance (NWAA),  known operationally as helimed 08

The air ambulances are based in Langwathby and Blackpool respectively and can respond rapidly to emergencies in our area. Although traditionally reserved for serious incidents, recent changes in their tasking and possibly attempts by NWAS to meet government targets have seen the air ambulances regularly appear at even minor incidents.

The air ambulances are staffed by a pilot, paramedic and a doctor or senior paramedic. Some are contracted to the air ambulance and you will meet them regularly, whilst others are doing placements for a few weeks. It's common to find the air ambulance staff on placements are unused to operating on mountains and may need support and reassurance on difficult ground.

NWAA and Great North are unable to winch and so they tend to put down on fairly flat ground. The RAF and Coastguard can winch without landing. There are particular dangers working with helicopters so make sure you read  'Safety & Danger' in the Casualty Care section of the website. When we have been tasked and we also know that a helicopter is also coming in we will continue to the Cas Site until we know that the helicopter has landed and taken the casualty off. What often happens is that they need our help to move the casualty from steep group to where the helicopter had landed or the helicopter has had to leave the area to refuel. Radio contact is made with the helicopter from the Cas Site by us as a helicopter comes to land or winch. 

 

 

 

 

Our local community

Marshalling at the Christmas Lights procession

There are a number of things we get involved with: Langdale show, Marshalling at the Ambleside Christmas Lights switch-on and  Rushbearing procession through the village, enjoying Bonfire Night at The Britannia Inn and contributing to health events like the National Stroke Day.