North of Tyne Mountain Rescue. March 23rd 2021

Mark Silmon


MORPETH ROTARY HEARS ABOUT MOUNTAIN RESCUE

Mark Silmon talked to Morpeth Rotary about the North of the Tyne Mountain Rescue Team. It covers the Northumbria Police area from the northern boundary of Durham County to the Scottish Borders. They are part of a North East group of five teams that cover from Scarborough to Scotland. There are 52 teams in England and Wales. They rescued an 88 year old from Border Ridge last week. They went to the aid of 10 walkers on Windy Gyle where there was snow but the walkers were not adequately dressed. One lady lost her shoes in the mud. Often it is lost children and people with dementia. They are called out most weeks. They have been going for 45 years. They are a partnership of two teams, he is with the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team, both are registered charities. The full team is 60, all members are volunteers, they operate five vehicles and it costs £40,000 a year to run. Rescue is free in the UK although an average cost for an operation would be £1000. Money is raised through charity events and fundraising but that takes a lot of time. Team members have many different occupations. He is a plumber but is trained in Advanced First Aid, can carry drugs and inject. It is a big commitment but employers give time off. 

There can be many reasons for a search. In 2019 an aircraft in cloud hit the side of Cheviot. There were men still in the plane to be brought out. It can be someone missing from home such as an 11 year old from Hexham.  There can be injured children, a road traffic collision on the A1 and wider emergencies caused by adverse weather. During the ‘Beast from the East’ in March 2018, they were called out continuously over four days and worked four shifts with everyone deployed. It even included working in Washington where an old lady fell at home and broke her leg. 

His own particular passion is search management and technology. Looking at the likely behaviour of missing persons. Depending on the age, sex and classification it is possible to make some sort of prediction as to where they might go and to work out search patterns on a map. 40% of missing persons are found in a very small search area. When emergencies are logged they can be sent simultaneously to eight duty control members. Response times can now be measured in seconds. The latest technology is usually provided free to Mountain Rescue as it is a good advert for the suppliers.  

They use four scent dogs, not tracking dogs. A dog can quickly narrow down the search area. This is specially useful in the dark. It takes two years to train a dog so that they ignore the scent of all other animals except humans. In 2019 there were 56 incidents with 66 in 2020. In this time of pandemic they all have masks and goggles. 

The speaker’s father was a Rotary District Governor. The vote of thanks was by Alan Moody.

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