The 9 potential new members who turned up on Tuesday night had become 7 by today. A full insight into the workings of the team was given to the 7 who turned up, from the 23 team members who turned up to assist.
Initially the potential members were taken through their personal kit requirements, and short paper tests in navigation. There followed a practical hands-on demonstration of CPR and BLS.
It was then up onto our still wintry moorlands, where snow and ice conditions underfoot still prevailed in rapidly thawing conditions and dense hill fog (a real eye-opener to how bad weather conditions can get on our local moorlands). The 7 participants took part in a solo navigation exercise over a 3km moorland course, in nil-visibility mist – a real tester. Returning to the roadside RVP, there was no time to rest as they were thrown straight into 3 consecutive stretcher evacuation exercises.
3 of our landrover ambulances parked above Wards’ Reservoir, Belmont. On a sunny day, the asecnt to the Winter Hill summit would normally be quite visible from here.
Garry briefs the potential new members before dispatching them on their moorland solo navigation exercise.
The 3 stretcher exercises involved stream crossings and stretcher carries across our typical very wet grass tussock moorland. At various stages, team members and the 7 alike were knee deep (some bottom deep) in moorland stream crossings.
“The 7 Hopefuls” hastily clamp team member Iain Peel to a Bell mountain rescue stretcher, in an exercise that demonstrates to the newcomers exactly what is meant when we say “moorland stretcher carry”
It was then back to our base to clean and dry equipment and to have a full debrief of the day with the seven potential members.
The team will now select from the 7 a small number of new recruits to join the team.
