503 missing persons searches
September 2019 saw team members heading to Leeds for the first dedicated Mountain Rescue England and Wales conference for seven years. Previous UK-wide events, hosted jointly by MREW, Scottish Mountain Rescue and Mountain Rescue Ireland, had been hugely successful so this was a high bar to match. Mountain Rescue Magazine Editor Judy Whiteside gives an overview.
importance of risk management, the development and maintenance of digital security, and the need for legal awareness in documentation. Just when delegates thought they had heard and read all there was to hear about last year ’s rescue in Thailand of the young football team trapped in a flooded caving system, Jason Mallinson came along to prove us wrong. His fascinating talk about his experience as one of the rescue party was delivered in a suitably croaky voice, thanks to his inhalation, during a recent cave diving operation, of the so-called ‘caustic cocktail’ sometimes associated with the use of rebreathers — caused when the absorbent material used to remove carbon dioxide from the breathing gas, is inundated with water — demonstration were it ever needed of the risks involved. Dave Bunting MBE later succeeded in lightening the mood, capturing the after dinner crowd with his tales of leading in extreme environments. Plans are underway for the next MREW Mountain Rescue Conference, hopefully in September 2021 which, says Julian, will ‘reflect whatever issues are important to our members and the wider SAR community. So, as with this one, we will go out to the membership, asking for input then craft a conference which reflects the wishes and concerns of our team members’. We can’t help but think that a certain coronavirus Covid-19 — and its impact on mountain rescue teams, financially, operationally and perhaps emotionally — might feature quite significantly.
The concensus was that the weekend was, indeed, a resounding success with accolades and thanks quickly tumbling in. Three hundred delegates and speakers converged on the Headingly Campus, joined by colleagues from Scotland, Ireland and Lowland Rescue. They were joined by representatives of the statutory emergency services, partner agencies and government and just under fifty exhibitor staff, many of whom attended the lecture sessions too, fully engaging not just with the membership but the very essence of mountain rescue. The event was sponsored by Integro, MREW’s approved insurance broker, with Simoco sponsoring a delegate pack of goodies and Helly Hansen providing each delegate with their classic base layer. A huge thank you must go to them, along with the exhibitors and programme advertisers for their support. The decision to return to Leeds proved the right one. ‘It’s central to the UK,’ says Julian Walden, who headed up a strong MREW conference team. ’There’s good train, plane and rail access. But, more importantly, we went there because of their enthusiasm and the shared ethos and culture of the Leeds Carnegie team. As outdoor specialists themselves, they understood our community well. Long before the weekend, team members were invited to throw in ideas, resulting in a speaker programme which incorporated a wide range of key topics under the four main threads of Training, Medical, Working with Outside Agencies and Governance. The latter proved particularly salutory with regard to the
Opposite (main photo) and right: Conference images © Cameron Walden. Opposite top: Ogwen team members working with the Coastguard helicopter © OVMRO.
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