Date: 16 February 2019
Time: 13.10 hrs
Location: Rothbury
The North East Ambulance Service requested our assistance, alongside North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team, following a teenager falling from his bike in a remote location sustaining a lower leg injury. Following assessment, the casualty was placed on a Mountain Rescue stretcher and carried to a waiting crewed ambulance for onward transport to hospital.
Date: 12 December 2017
Time: 15.39hrs
Locations: Ravens Heugh, Simonside
A group of nine, well equipped walkers requested the assistance of #MountainRescue yesterday afternoon when one of their party, a female in her early 70s sustained an ankle injury. The group at the time of reporting the incident to Northumbria Police was near Ravens Heugh.
North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team and ourselves swiftly deployed a hasty team from the Rothbury area in a 4×4 vehicle. As we deployed, the group continued with their ‘self rescue’ making progress towards Simonside. The group was met by our hasty team just as they reached a drive-able track.
The injured walker was assessed by one of our Medics before being warmed and then evacuated in the 4×4 vehicle. The other members of the party were also transported off the hill with the assistance of the Police.
We’d also like to thank the Rothbury Practice as one of their Doctors checked over the injured walker once she’d been safely evacuated from the hill.
Last weekend the Team was involved in a research project led by The Centre for Search Research and Newcastle University Business School. The research was designed to explore the effectiveness of searching on the ground and in the air.
Over two days our search groups and search dog, Tess, and her handler were put to the test on the ground searching routes and areas on the moors near Rothbury.
QuestUAV and Northumberland National Park Authority were involved in testing fixed wing and rotor drones to search a defined route and area, and the UK Civil Air Patrol used planes and a helicopter to search the same areas.
From an incident control perspective the research gave us a great opportunity to put some of our technology to the test in tracking search groups and accurately recording what had and hadn’t been searched. We also worked with QuestUAV to analyse the digital imagery produced from the fixed wing drone to locate the missing persons.
A highly beneficial couple of days with observers from Northumbria Police, the National Police Air Support Unit, Northumberland Fire & Rescue and the Coastguard.
Date: 12 March 2017
Time: 13.29hrs
Location: Cragside Estate, near Rothbury
The spring weather yesterday brought lots of people out into Northumberland. For one lady her day didn’t end so well, when she slipped and sustained a serious upper leg injury whilst walking in the Cragside estate.
The North East Ambulance Service requested the assistance of Mountain Rescue to evacuate the lady from a hard to reach location near to Nelly Moss Lakes. The lady received treatment from the Community Paramedic before members of the Team and some from North of Tyne MRT carried the lady on a Bell stretcher 500 metres along a slippery path to the awaiting Ambulance.
Northumbria Police requested the assistance of North of Tyne MRT and ourselves in a search for a missing person from Rothbury in Northumberland. The missing person was last seen in Morpeth earlier in the afternoon.
Thankfully as our Incident Controllers were travelling to liaise with the Police Search Adviser, the missing person was located safe and well.
The incident involved 4 Team members for 15 minutes.
Nearly 500 Scouts and Explorer Scouts were involved in Operation Twilight yesterday. They were walking in small groups between the drop off points at Bolam and Alwinton, and finding their own way back to Rothbury. Evading capture as they went!
Unfortunately a member of one of the groups sustained an ankle injury and was unable to continue. The Team was called to assist with evacuation. SARLOC, a Smart Phone location app, was used to pin point the location of the group before two Mountain Rescue Land Rovers and members were despatched.
The Land Rovers were almost able to access the group’s location, on the footpath to the SE of Spylaw, round the back of Simonside. Whilst the casualty was assessed, the other group members were transported off the fell. A short stretcher carry to the remaining vehicle then saw the casualty, who was also mildly hypothermic, safely evacuated back to Rothbury.
The casualty was then handed over to the Ambulance service.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Team alongside North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team were called by Northumbria Police to assist in a search for a male in his late 70s. The male had gone missing in the Cragside estate near Rothbury.
The Teams were placed on standby whilst two Incident Controllers made their way to Cragside to liaise with the Police and Head Ranger of the estate. Then no sooner had the decision been made to callout the Teams, the gentleman wandered out of the woods near to Cragend quarry.
By all accounts he had become disoriented in the maze of paths that lead through the beautiful National Trust estate. Thankfully he had come to no harm and was relieved to be reunited with his family.
The incident involved 5 members for 1 hours 50 minutes. A further 16 members were travelling to the RV when they were stood down.
A busy period continues with our sixth call-out in two weeks. The Team along with North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team were called by Northumbria Police to attend an incident at Harbottle. A 10 year old boy had climbed on top of the Drakestone and was unable to reverse climb.
Assisted by the Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service crew from Rothbury and a specialist rope access team from Alnwick, the boy was eventually lowered to the ground.
The incident lasted 2.5 hours and involved 10 rescue Team 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.
The road linking Rothbury and the New Moor House cross road for the A697 experienced some horrendous driving conditions for around an hour this morning; with a complete white out due to drifting snow. Up to 20 vehicles were stuck at various places along the road, which was then closed to prevent further vehicles getting stuck. The photo shows what the road was like shortly before the local Police requested our assistance and before it got really bad.
We mobilised one of our Land Rovers to drive the road from the A697 towards Rothbury, to check on the welfare of those stranded and to tow them to a point where they could make further progress. At the same time, the Northumberland National Park Authority mobilised one of their Land Rovers to do the same, but in the opposite direction; from Rothbury to the A697.
Shortly after both Land Rovers started travelling to the scene, the weather started to ease and a snow plough managed to clear the road allowing it to become passable again and re-open.
A yellow alert for snow remains in place for the rest of today and the hills are very white! Always check the forecast and equip yourself for the conditions.
A total of 4 Team members were involved for 50 minutes.
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