Busy weekend for Mournes team

Busy weekend for Mournes team

2 July 2014

MOURNE Mountain Rescue team took part in a series of difficult and taxing rescues over the weekend. The busy weekend began at 6.50pm on Friday when the team was tasked to a woman who had fallen while descending Slieve Moughanmore, in the western Mournes, and sustained a suspected broken leg.

The team assessed, stabilised and prepared the woman for evacuation by the Dublin Coastguard helicopter. Sixteen team members responded and were stood down at 10pm.

However, just an hour later the team was called out to search for an injured walker who had fallen and sustained a serious injury. A 999 call had been received by the Ambulance Service but the caller was unsure of the location of the casualty and could only give scant details before the phone signal was lost.

The team responded carrying out extensive searches at key areas across the Mournes. Several hours later the casualty was located by the PSNI in a forest on the periphery of the mountain range. A total of 16 members responded.

While the team was still on the previous call they received a request for assistance at 1.30am for a missing hillwalking group.

The five teenage females had been undertaking a Duke of Edinburgh expedition when they failed to meet their leaders at a designated camp site. The team responded, identified key search areas within a very intricate area and started a methodical search.

As the search progressed the team was joined by the PSNI helicopter and the Coastguard helicopter from Dublin.

At approx 5am the group was located within the search area by the Coastguard helicopter and airlifted to hospital. A total of 18 members responded and the team stood down from the two consecutive calls at 7.30am.

On Saturday afternoon, at 1.30pm, the team was tasked to assist a woman who had sustained a leg injury on the Glen River track on Slieve Donard. The Coastguard helicopter again responded and took the woman to Daisy Hill Hospital. The team stood down at 3.30pm.

“With this exceptionally busy weekend for our team we would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank all those with whom we work with, not just this weekend but on the majority of our calls including the Irish Coastguard helicopter, PSNI, HMCG, NIAS and a special note of thanks to our friends in the South Down Coast Guard rescue team,” said team spokesman.

The team held its annual general meeting on Wednesday and tributes were paid to recently retired member, Suzy Carson, who joined the team in 1992 and is a long serving member of the management committee.

The team members passed on their sincere thanks and gratitude for all her hard work and the often thankless task of managing the teams finances as team treasurer.

Since the last AGM in 2013 the Mourne MRT dealt with 32 callouts or standby requests from the PSNI and on two occasions the team was tasked to assist mountain Rescue teams in Mayo and Dublin/Wicklow.

Over 122 hours were spent dealing with callout incidents, with the average incident lasting four hours. There were an average of 10 members per incident totalling over 1380 man/woman hours. During these callouts 28 people were assisted, 19 of whom had some form of injury that required further medical attention at hospital.

During the year a number of associate members completed their individual assessments to make the transition to full membership.

Structured team training has continued, covering all aspects of team operations and using a variety of both training sessions as well as realistic scenarios. In total 23 structured sessions took place with a minimum of 10 attendees and a maximum of 23, the average response being 15 per session.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters who have raised much needed funds for the team over the last few years,” said the spokesman.

“We are a professional voluntary 999 emergency rescue service on call 24/7/365. If you would like to support the work of the Mourne MRT a donation can be made online at www.justgiving.com/mournemrt.”