Hikers warned to stay off Mournes

Hikers warned to stay off Mournes

1 April 2020

A WARNING has been issued to hikers to stay away from the Mourne mountains.

Volunteers from the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team who have revealed that the coronavirus pandemic will impact on the highly acclaimed service that they provide at a time when it finds itself in “unchartered waters”.

And in an unprecedented move, the volunteers have asked walkers, climbers, runners and bikers to forego their enjoyment of the mountains or risk having to save themselves if they get into difficulty.

Frequent visitors to the mountains have been asked, for the moment, to stick to confined alternatives, while strictly observing government guidelines on social distancing.

In a lengthy post on the team’s social media page, the volunteers outline what they have described as an ”important update” surrounding the organisation’s operational procedures and how these will impact the delivery of services across the Mournes for the foreseeable future.

Before people were last week warned to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus, a significant number of people took to the mountains. Since then, country parks, forest parks, play parks and reservoirs have all been closed in a bid to stop the spread of the disease.

The rescue team volunteers say that they will be forced to make “difficult choices” due to the coronavirus for the foreseeable future.

This includes asking the ‘walking wounded’ to consider rescuing themselves and for those uninjured, lost or overtaken by darkness, to spend the night on the mountains.

The rescue team said that as a voluntary frontline emergency service, it is committed to serving the community and saving lives in the mountains. But it warns that given the “tangible threat” that COVID-19 poses to public health at present, the rescue team finds itself in unchartered waters. 

The volunteers say that they must continuously review and adapt their ways of doing things to reflect the most up-to-date public health advice.

They say that with the high volumes of people observed in the mountains two weekends ago and given the current climate in relation to COVID-19, they must now make a number of difficult choices.

Rescue team volunteers say that when contacted for mountain rescue, their first priority has to be the safety of team members, their families and the community.

“We are all volunteers, many of whom live with and care for ‘vulnerable’ people at home and in our working lives,” the statement continues.

“If you call 999 and ask for mountain rescue, we will of course do what we can. However, if you are uninjured, lost or benighted, you will be asked to consider waiting until morning or better visibility to extricate yourself. If you are ‘walking wounded’ you will be asked to consider extricating yourself from the mountain.”

The volunteers confirm that they will respond to those seriously injured and not physically able to get off the mountain, but will only do so with the absolute minimum of team members needed to complete the task.

As a result, they explain that the evacuation will be less straightforward and the overall time to transport people to medical attention will be much longer. Helicopter support will only be requested if a critical injury is sustained.

Rescue team volunteers said while these measures are contrary to everything they believe in, they are necessary to protect team members, their families and our community at this time.

“COVID-19 is a very serious threat and everyone must face up to their responsibilities in order to limit the spread of the virus,” said the team.

“Government guidelines have been very clear and many people have chosen to ignore this, putting everyone at risk. By its very nature, mountain rescue requires close contact between both rescuers and casualty, exposing everyone to the risk of infection.”

The volunteers say there is also the potential that they could infect the people they are rescuing.

The statement adds: “Our already over-burdened ambulance service and hospitals don’t need or want any avoidable admissions over this difficult period.

“We are asking walkers, climbers, runners and bikers to forego their enjoyment of the mountains for the moment and to stick to confined alternatives, while strictly observing government guidelines. Otherwise there may come a time when the team may not be able to respond at all. Let’s all put our shoulder to the wheel now and do our bit. Remember, the mountains will always be there.”