We are now actively recruiting new members!
Those wanting to apply should be:
– Physically fit
– Confident in their own ability to navigate safely through mountainous environments whilst the weather is unfavourable.
– Prior winter walking or mountaineering experience would be advantageous although not essential.
– For practical reasons (cost and time spent training) the Team are looking for individuals that are settled in the region and can demonstrate a long term commitment to Mountain Rescue.
– For insurance reasons, those applying should be aged between 18 and 70.
The Team is particularly interested in receiving applications from those living or working in the following areas:
– Wooler
– Alnwick
– Rothbury
– Along the Tyne Valley west of Newcastle
– Bellingham
To apply, please email the Team’s Secretary via info@nnpmrt.org for an application form, which should be completed and returned no later than the end of February 2016. Interviews and an initial hill skills assessment will take place in April.
Successful applicants will receive a year of training in search skills, radio communications, pre-hospital medical care, technical rescue skills, working with helicopters and winter skills before graduating to the call out list. Once on the call out list, the Team’s highly trained volunteers respond to emergencies at the request of the emergency services when the specialist skills of Mountain Rescue are required.
Calls for assistance include not only searches for, and rescues of, walkers, fell/trail runners, mountain bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts in the uplands of Northumberland but also the search and rescue of missing children and vulnerable adults in rural and urban settings. Responding to such emergencies and helping those in need is extremely rewarding. During 2015 the Team responded to 56 incidents, its busiest year on record. The incidents included 23 searches for lost or overdue walkers and vulnerable or despondent individuals, 20 rescues for climbers, fell/trail runners and horse riders, and 2 resilience incidents where NNPMRT responded to assist those affected by the recent flooding across Northumberland.
NNPMRT provides a search and rescue service for the whole of the Northumbria Police area, which covers 2,159 square miles. The largest area covered by any Mountain Rescue team in England. The area extends from Sunderland in the South East, to Alston in the South West, and to the Scottish Border in the North. The Team relies on the diversity of both its volunteers’ locations and working patterns to provide a reliable service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
http://nnpmrt.org/support-us/how-to-join/
