Specialist Rescue Strategy - Report Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Specialist Rescue Strategy Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction The mountain rescue service in the UK offers assistance to any person who becomes injured or lost in mountains, moorlands or feels for whatever reason. The service is available the whole day and the whole week and runs in all weather conditions. Mountain rescue is the entire United Kingdom is offered freely to both the people rescued and to the organisations to which they might belong. Providers of mountain rescue Majority of mountain rescue in UK is carried out by a group of voluntary mountain rescue teams which are established on local basis where the service is needed. The rescue teams are all self governing bodies and comprise volunteers who are unpaid and who are called whenever their services are needed. The other organisations which offer rescue services are the royal air force mountain rescue teams, and the royal navy or royal air force search and rescue helicopters. All these organisations and teams work jointly to offer an incorporated response to the mountain emergencies and work together in the field and also in the organisation and planning of rescues. The royal air force search and rescue responds to civilian calls regarding mountain accidents through the local emergency and police services. The royal air force operate s six search and rescue teams which work together with two royal navy teams and four coastguard teams , and also supports the voluntary UK mountain rescue teams. Larger parts of the UK mountain rescue teams are mainly funded by donors and composed of local people who are skilled and experienced in hill climbing and walking, navigation and first aid. Numerous rescue teams use trained dogs in the search and rescue mission and these dogs are usually funded by the pet food manufacturers and several outdoor clothing firms provide equipments or sponsor teams. The United Kingdom mountain rescue has partnered and works with several organisations to enhance and build on work that id does to keep the community safe. The partners include the public and private sector such as welfare and health organizations, local authorities, community groups and local industry such as the oil industry. This partnership ensures that every person who is concerned with the rescue service is able to make cohesive improvements or changes that benefit the community. Mountain rescue strategy The mountain rescue teams in the UK aspires to be a modern rescue organisation that delivers effective, excellent operational rescue services at all levels by an efficient and professionally skilled infrastructure. The UK mountain rescue teams are focused on accomplishing this vision and building its strong reputation for society working and innovation, as it is striving to make sure that the people working, living in and visiting UK continue experiencing a high quality life (Maclnnes, 2005). The UK mountain rescue is vital in meeting the anticipations of the community and that through closely working in partnership with the people it serves enables it to achieve the long term community well being and reassurance. In endeavoring to make the most efficient and effective utilization of the available, resources, the mountain rescue teams engage in frequent dialogue with the local communities and use its own knowledge and experience in prioritizing their objectives. The UK Mountain rescue committee The mountain rescue committee is the coordinating and representative body for the mountain rescue services in UK. It is managed by the executive who reports to general committee which comprises of the mountain rescue teams and other mountain rescue organisations. The mountain rescue committee gathers and analyses all mountain injuries and accident s information in UK and offers a yearly report. It also organizes national conferences, seminars and numerous training courses and also creates numerous publications on mountain rescue and safety (Clifford, 2006). Mountain rescue equipments Mountains equipments used by mountain rescue teams in UK are a world away from hobnail boots and hemp ropes used in early times. Special design stretchers and vacuum splints are the most significant rescue equipments used by mountain rescue teams and organisations. Progression in medical technology and the dedication of UK rescue teams have given rise to a wide range of specialist equipments which are used in demanding operational rescue atmospheres. All equipments possessed by Uk rescue teams have unique serial numbers with a history record that track the purchase date of the equipment and its confirmatory certificate issued by manufacturer, which verifies that it is fit for the intended purpose. After use, all equipments are dried and checked to make sure that they have not been damaged before their return to the stores for next use. All medical equipments used by the mountain rescue teams are portable and easy to use in several environments. Considering that a helicopter or a rescue vehicle might not be capable of directly accessing a casualty, a main consideration is that mountain rescue team members are needed to carry out all the essential equipments to the rescue site. According to Mariner, (2004), all rescue equipments used must be reliable, durable and strong, able to endure robust utilization on rough landscape, in whatever weather condition and should also be easy and simple to use in wind, blizzard or sunshine. Therefore, for instance the classic bell stretchers which are largely used by mountain rescue teams in UK are precisely designed for mountain use are spitted into two halves, and each one of them is portable by a sole rescue team member. These pieces are the assembled at the point where they are needed. Individual rescue teams in UK use a wide range of light weight casbags where they wrap the victim, so as to warm and conserve body heat. Another equipment used by mountain rescue teams is the vacuum mattress which provides effective and total spinal immobilization, and makes the victim more comfortable, reducing the likelihood of developing pressure points while maintaining and encouraging good circulation. Mountain rescue vehicles Mountain rescue members respond to a range of events, over rugged terrain, usually a far distance from the road and teams are usually called for assistance in severe weather conditions, or even when roads are covered with ice and snow or flooded. As a result Mountain rescue are four wheel drive, which enable rescue members and their equipments to be taken to casualty site. Nash (2007) argues that the vehicles are modified and appropriately liveried with emergency markings and blue lights and team’s identity so as to suit the requirements of individual teams. Numerous of the vehicles are equipment and people carriers, but majority of them are fitted out to transport a victim to the hospital when necessary. The fitting of sirens and blue lights allows easier identification by public and safer movement through traffic, enhancing faster treatment of the victim. Driving mountain rescue vehicles needs great deal of training and skill, and teams usually work with local ambulance, police and fire services to offer driver training. Search and rescue helicopters are also used in the rescue mission by the royal air force mountain rescue teams. Training mountain rescue teams The UK mountain rescue teams are trained before they are enrolled to execute rescue duties. The basic requirement needed for people who wish to join the teams is that they should be experienced hill walkers. They are supposed to be able to navigate to every point of the mountain night or day and be capable of taking care of themselves on the mountain for 24 hours in whatever weather conditions be it winter or summer. The other most significant qualification is that these individuals are supposed to have a love for wild places and hills. This, merged with personal fitness and self motivation every hill walker have, and an aspiration to offer best rescue services to the communities, the UK mountain rescue teams provide team members with strong base on which to build the best mountain search and rescue teams in the globe. Once new people are accepted to the team, they are taken to probation for one year, a duration during which them are introduced into the rescue team life and are trained on a wide range of equipment, techniques and skills that every team member is expected to know. The most significant skill they are supposed to develop is the capability to work as a portion of a greatly self disciplined and motivated team. This is because in the rescue team every person depends on one another to execute the best work possible when searching for a missing individual or when dealing with a severely injured victim in what is usually hazardous and unpleasant conditions (Fox, 2005). Team training is majorly practical and designed to rationally prepare members of the rescue team with whatever would be needed of them when they are called out. Training may be quite a difficult task and also mentally and physically challenging, but might be at the same time fun and interesting if team members have the passion to do the job. When the fist year ends, the probationers are examined on the most essential skills and if they are successful, they become full mountain search and rescue members but the training continues. Over the recent years, the UK mountain rescue teams have been focusing on the design and development of new medical techniques, equipment technologies and search management and technical rescue strategies. The rescue teams reviews and monitors these developments and often strives to use excellent technology and practical methods available to them when dealing with a mountain accident. This practice together with reviewing new safety and health guidelines, new statutory regulations and risk assessments helps in improving training of new team members. At times, the voluntary work looks like a full time work with all team members putting in a lot of effort, time and at times individual expense into team training. Although mountain rescue teams are trained so as to be able to operate in every condition to reach the people in distress, there are instances when it becomes very risky for them to carry out their duties. In addition rescue teams may take longer periods to reach the accident scene from the time of the accident. Therefore rescue team members are suppose to be self reliant implying that they should be able to handle the most eventualities that might befall them on the hill. They owe it to themselves as a team to be highly competent at the operation and to any misfortune that may befall them to the best of their ability. Therefore the rescue team members should learn mountaineering skills which can enable them to judge a potential risk and know what lies ahead of them through reading maps, assessing weather changes, assessing avalanche hazard, know which equipments to utilize and when and judge how every team member is coping. The team members should utilize local guide books, knowledge, maps and reports to collect as much data as possible on the intended route involving river crossings and escape routes and regions of avalanche activity. According to Johnston, & Hill, (2004), it is essential for team members to learn self rescue skills such as mountain fist aid, security on complicated or difficult ground, evacuation form cliffs and rope techniques. The team members should be kept informed on the equipment and clothing that would help them to survive in severest conditions. The rescue team members may also encounter accidents during the rescue exercise and this mainly happen as a result of personal error of judgment or lack of skills or understanding. Therefore team members should rely on the skills they have and not on technology. They should know compass work and map reading and utilize GPS navigation aids as assistance, but not as a basic too. They should not also rely much on mobile phones to summon immediate aid because are several areas in UK hills where reception is still unavailable or patchy. Mountain emergency and accident procedure It can be unnerving to witness an accident, even for the experienced mountaineers or mountain rescue team members. The more severe accident may be highly frightening and may cause shock and in this state, it is hard for rescue members to make sound decisions or judgments on which action to undertake for the best, particularly if unprepared. Moore, & Lakha (2006) argues that it is practical for all hill climbers and hill walkers to possess a prepared collection of actions that they can carry out as a portion of an aide record or be sufficiently rehearsed in. Therefore, every team member should ensure his personal safety as well as those of other team members and should attend to circulation, airway and breathing of the victim, quickly assessing injuries and treating them as necessary. The members should offer comfort and shelter for group and casualty, identify a location and marking it with a bivvy bag or group shelter. The team members are supposed to decide whether they are able to deal with the situation themselves or they may need outside assistance and if in doubt c, usually be cautious and give a call to other emergency services. They should also write down the situation of the accident location entailing grid reference, weather, and time of the accident, injuries and telephone number of the rescue team. Planning for mountain rescue Before going out for a mountain rescue, the team members are first supposed to have mountain skills that they will require to judge potential risk, involving the capability to read a map. They should think about the experience, equipment, enthusiasm and capabilities of each team member, taking into consideration the time of the year, nature of the trip and terrain so that that they are able to choose routes accordingly. They should also be aware of the basic fist aid principles since they could make a difference between death and life of the casualty (Maclnnes, 2003). Team members should wear appropriate footwear with a treaded sole, and which offers ankles support. Fulsaas ( 2003) argues that the clothing should be warm, colorful, water proof and wind proof and team members should carry spare clothes, including gloves and hat because even in summer periods open moorland and hill tops may still be cruelly cold and its often colder the higher they climb. The team members carry drink and food particularly high energy foods like dried fruit and chocolate. In wet, cold warm drinks are advisable and even water since even in cold weather it is easy to become dehydrated at hill tops. A compass and map are important tools, must be readily accessible and not deeply buried in the rucksack. Team members carry a GPS and a mobile phone to contact one another and they greatly rely on the GPS to get them out of trouble because mobile phones may cause inconveniences because of lack of signal coverage in the mountains. A torch together with additional bulbs and batteries is mandatory and is used for signaling in a similar pattern as for the whistle blasts. A reliable watch is also useful. Before setting out rescue team members are supposed to check local conditions and weather forecast and leave their route plan entailing finish and start points, approximation time of return and contact details with appropriate parties. Once on the hill members keep a close watch on the weather and are prepared to turn back when conditions turn against them, even this action upsets an extensive planned adventure (Marsh, 2005). Conclusion United Kingdom mountain rescue teams provide search and rescue services to people who get lost or injured on mountains. The rescue teams ensure that they deliver effective and good operational services and ensure the safety of the local communities. Thus in order to ensure quality service, the mountain rescue teams offers technical training to make sure that its equipped with the required experience and skills to undertake rescue work. Bibliography Maclnnes, H, 2005, International Mountain Rescue Handbook, Cowles Publishing company, UK. Mariner, W, 2004, Mountain rescue techniques, Ashgate, Australia. Maclnnes, H, 2003, The mammoth Book of Mountain Disasters: True Stories of Rescue from the brink of death, Running Press, UK. Nash, M, 2007, Playing for real: Stories from rocky mountain rescue, Mountaineers Books, Scotland. Clifford, H, 2006, The falling season: Inside the life and death drama of Aspen's Mountain, Aspen Free Press, Greenwood. Marsh, T, 2005, Great mountains days in Snowdonia, Dalesman publisher, South Wales. Moore, T, & Lakha, R, 2006, Tolleys handbook of disaster and emergency management, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Fox, D, 2005, People at Work in Mountain Rescue, Doubleday & Company, Australia. Johnston, S, & Hill, P, 2004, The Mountain Skills training handbook, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell. Fulsaas, K, 2003, Mountaineering: the freedom of the hills, Springer Verlag, New York. Read More