A bit about what we do and where we operate

Primarily, we exist to provide a voluntary search and rescue service for the West Pennine Moors, but besides searching for missing or injured hill walkers and people involved in mountain biking and climbing accidents, (which is usually the first thing pictured when the phrase "mountain rescue" is mentioned) we are also heavily involved in other happenings.

Our past callouts have involved crashed aircraft, hang gliders and parapenters. Generally, however, where there is a problem locating victims, or the terrain surrounding a casualty is difficult to access, it is likely that your mountain rescue team is involved.

Several times a year we also provide standby rescue cover for events held within our area. We can often be spotted at orienteering events, fell races, sponsored walks, and mountain bike races.

We are a key resource to the other emergency services, our specialist skills being recognised and respected by Greater Manchester and Lancashire Police who utilise us (along with other teams) to help in search and rescue operations, alongside use by the Ambulance services. The team also works with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, assisting at high-line rescues (structures as well as the more familiar rock faces and steep ground) and moorland firefighting operations.

Besides our upland moorland area, we also operate throughout the lowland areas of Bolton, Salford, Wigan, Trafford, Manchester South, and the western half of Bury. We are also called upon to assist other teams in North Manchester, the eastern half of Bury, Tameside, Rochdale, Oldham, North Cheshire and South Lancashire.

Incident listings

Formed in 1968 to provide a voluntary search & rescue service for the local moorlands north of Bolton & Bury, within the Greater Manchester and Lancashire County areas (now designated the West Pennine Moors), the team is increasingly utilised by Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Constabulary to assist in searches for missing persons (usually young, elderly or infirm) throughout their respective force areas. Many of these searches unfortunately have tragic conclusions.

The team works in support of North West Ambulance Service, Greater Manchester Area & Lancashire Area, providing casualty evacuation skills, specialist equipment, and four wheel drive vehicles. The team also works alongside and in support of the North West Air Ambulance service, and Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service.

Working alongside the North-West Air Ambulance and GMAS paramedics on incident 48/2004.

2009

During 2009, the theme of 2008 continued with generally more rescue work than search work.

Included in this were a number of 'standby' incidents for the NWAS Lancashire & Manchester services at the start of the year due to wintry conditions; this pattern of work continued in the 2009/2010 winter season.

The snowfall in mid-December in the Greater Manchester area triggered many calls on the team, with our first ever callout on Christmas Day & multiple callouts on Boxing Day to New Year's Eve

2009 also included incidents involving numerous body recoveries from water and two aircraft crash standbys.

In total we attended 103 incidents - which consisted of 137 seperate incidents. Including another first for the Team, 2 searches for 2 different people, not connected, but in the same location.

2008

Incidents during 2008 are now showing that the team has fallen in to a broad pattern of more rescue work and less search work than in previous years.

The reasons behind this are many and varied including ever stronger links with NWAS and more refined search protocols leading to the teams involvement.

Of the searches we were involved in this year it is worth noting that our team can now call on the services of a SARDA trail dog alongside the more familiar SARDA air-scenting dogs. Regards rescues in this year we had a wide and varied workload some of which involved a multi-agency approach with a great many involving the air ambulance (and one involving a Royal Air Force Sea King helicopter).

Within our search and rescue role we were engaged in a number of body recovery operations as well as dealing with serious trauma on rescue incidents.

We continue to directly assist NWAS (Manchester) with the provision of specialists crews and our vehicles during certain peak demand periods on their service as well as more general assistance during periods of wintry driving conditions.

2007

Another year breaking all previous records with the number of incidents attended. As in previous years, a very wide and varied range of incidents was dealt with including the high-profile local search for missing Lostock man John Nuttall, whose body was sadly discovered outside the search areas some time after our involvement.

A large volume of our workload arose from direct assistance calls as in previous years due to step-up resource demands originating with the North West Ambulance Service (Greater Manchester Area) who called on the team many times, planned and unplanned, due to service demands both in the working week at evenings and weekends, with the team being able to respond in some capacity to all calls for its assistance.

We also dealt with the usual frequent workload of rural and semi-urban calls, assisting the NWAS Greater Manchester Area and Lancashire Area where ambulance crews to gain access to casualties, but requested our specialist evacuation assistance to transfer casualties to responding ambulances.

A great many of our incidents involved us in multi-agency responses involving fire, police, amublance and sometimes airborne emergency resources.

2006

This proved to be our busiest year to date for incidents, breaking the previous record only set last year. The usual varied range of incidents was dealt with in our upland and lowland operating areas, including the high profile search with a sad outcome for a missing boy in the Bury area in March. Other notable searches this year included the intensive search in the North Cheshire area for the Reverend Michael Robinson, resulting in the sad location of his body and the large scale search co-ordinated by the team for a missing man in the Wigan area, in the early part of July, again ultimately with a sad outcome.

A large volume of our workload arose from direct assistance calls to the North West Ambulance Service (Greater Manchester Area) who called on the team many times, planned and unplanned, due to service demands at the time of the World Cup and over the festive Christmas and New Year periods.

2005

Well 2005 concluded with an amazing 135 seperate incidents that the teams' services had been called upon to offer assistance, making this our busiest ever year to date.

Incidents dealt with went right across the spectrum of calls we now regularly receive and demonstrate the very close working relationship we now have with our colleagues in the Police, Fire and Ambulance Services alongside calls to assist other Mountain Rescue Teams.

By far the greatest user of the teams services is Greater Manchester Ambulance Service who called on us an amazing 79 times in 2005, 55 of these calls being in direct assistance of GMAS at peak demand times, when very detailed and pre arranged plans for such useage of the Bolton MRT, (and Oldham MRT, BRCS, and SJAB) were brought into play.

When talking of incidents it should be remembered that the team also provided on scene Standby Rescue Cover at 14 seperate hill events (fell races mainly) throughout 2005 as in other years, where no incidents happened but the team was present "just in case". These Standby Rescue Covers are not included in our 135 incident total.

2004

2004 concluded almost at midnight with 96 incidents recorded, right across the whole spectrum of work that we are now involved in.

We commenced the year with 10 incidents in direct support of GMAS in the early hours of New Year's Day, with incidents recorded in every month of the year. There were a number of days when we had multiple searches and/or rescues taking place, including 2 days when we had 3 spot pickups on each of the days (Sunday 22^nd August and Boxing Day 26^th December).

As usual we dealt with a number of Road Traffic Accidents on our moorland roads, most of which involved motorcyclists. We also dealt with 7 off-road motorcycle incidents - so motorcyclists appear to be our main incident 'clients'. In total over the year, we were called to assist 109 persons.

To date, 2004 turned out to be our third busiest year since formation in 1968.

2003

2003 saw our busiest year ever with 102 total incidents, including for the first time, call outs to incidents initiated by Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service. Another first was two calls to Hot Air Balloon crashes (or "controlled forced landings" as we subsequently found out). As ever we had our usual numbers of Mountain Bike incidents, off-road motorcycle incidents and moorland road traffic accidents to deal with, alongside our usual "customers". In a sign of the times, towards the end of the year another first was notched up when the Team was put on standby to assist GMAS for a Major Incident in Bolton, involving an explosive device.

Our longest operation of the year, was our involvement in Warrington, for Cheshire Constabulary, following the disappearance of a 17 year old girl. Over 5 days, we provided 68 man days of search input amounting to 775 man hours.

Two other first also took place, our being called out to directly assist GMAS during a peak demand situation (aside from our usual New Years Eve / New Years Day assistance) and a call to assist British Transport Police with a search for a person, believed hit by a train.

2002

2002 turned out to be a very busy year, with summer dominated by our considerable involvement in the M2002 Commonwealth Games Cycling events around Rivington. (We were even mentioned in the New Zealand Herald, concerning our involvement in assisting a seriously injured Kiwi competitor!). Games aside, we were called to the usual mix of incidents, ranging from mountain bikers to off-road motorcyclists, ramblers coming to grief, and moorland road traffic accidents.

Search Dog Chi had his first two working finds this year, both involving the same person, who went missing on two occasions. Sadly, on the 2nd search, the person was tragically found dead.

A number of body recoveries were also undertaken this year, including our 4 day involvement assisting CSI of GMP with a difficult body recovery operation, on the "Cliff", Salford.

All in all, 2002 was a busy and varied year, which saw us working alongside not just our usual colleagues in the Ambulance, Police, and Air Ambulance services, but also GMCFS.

2001

Our incident figures for 2001 were lower than normal, reflecting the closure of much of the local countryside and uplands due to foot and mouth.

We were still kept busy with 59 incidents of varied types, ranging from lowland search operations to multi agency emergency responses to serious incidents. Notable incidents included the rescue of a young boy and girl at night time, who had both fallen over an estimated sheer 40 foot drop, overlooking the River Irwell. This rescue involved the team in a central role alongside multiple resources from GMFS, GMAS, and GMP, including their helicopter. Three serious mountain bike incidents dealt with in the latter part of the year reflect the growing popularity of our team upland area for mountain biking.

2000

The team attended 92 operational incidents and callouts in the year 2000, these included:

• A serious quarry accident
• Searches for missing children
• Assisting the ambulance services in wintry weather
• Snow sledging accidents
• Difficult evacuation incidents
• New Years Celebration incidents
• Injured hill walkers, climbers & mountain bikers