2003

Later on Friday evening, at 22:50, GMP requested the team’s urgent assistance with the search for a missing male, in the Collyhurst area of Manchester, who had taken a drug overdose. The team was stood down shortly afterwards with the news that Police Officers had located the missing man.

At 17:17 on Friday, the team was called out to asssist GMAS with the rescue of a young boy, from Scotmans Flash in Wigan. The GMP helicopter was airborne providing lighting with its searchlight, and GMFRS resources were also on scene. At 17:33 during our response, the team was stood down, with three of our four Rescue vehicles en route, and some individual members within minutes of the scene. (GMFRS Firefighters had managed to wade out to the boy and rescue him – he was suffering from hypothermia).

Our Search Dog team of handler Dave Marsh and Search Dog Chi, were called out on Tuesday evening, to join other SARDA teams in a search for a missing 15 year old boy, in the Giggleswick area of the Yorkshire Dales, co-ordinated by the Cave Rescue Organisation. (in their surface search role). The young boy was found unharmed on a local road, and Dave, Chi, and team member Andy Ryding, acting as navigator, all got back to bed at 02:00 on Wednesday morning, 12th November.

At 13:25, the team was contacted by GMP regarding a search for a 13 year old missing boy, from Bolton, who was believed to be in the Sale water park area of Manchester. A full scale search, including our search dog Chi, took place in atrocious autumn night time conditions. The search concluded mid-evening with the news that the boy had turned up back at his home address, safe and well.

Members pose for a photo after completing their search areas, on this awful night.

In the very early hours of Wednesday morning, GMP called us out to an unusual and somewhat technical, urban rescue, involving a 32 year old man with serious injuries, lay on an inaccessible rooftop in the centre of Salford City, just by Greengate Railway Arches, near Chapel Street.
A multi agency response included GMCFS from Salford Fire Station, a GMAS Ambulance and Rapid Response Vehicle, a GMAS Paramedic Manager, and numerous GMP Officers.
For a while the City Centre was sealed off, as the rescue effort swung into action.
We were called at 00:25 hrs, and working jointly with the Fire Crew and Paramedics, and utilising a Fire Ladder and Rope Rescue techniques, the injured man was lowered from the roof by Firefighters, then raised on a Bell MRT stretcher up a vertical wall, utilising a rope haul system by the team, and down exterior steps into the Ambulance at 02:20 hrs.
Team members eventually got to their beds around 03:30 hrs, ending a very interesting rescue.