Mountain Rescue First Aid

This weekend I am attending and teaching some sessions on the Mountain Rescue Casualty Care course for my rescue team (Llanberis MRT). It is a requirement that all MRT members have a first ais qualification of some sort. Many have a minimum of REC Level 2. However, if you wish to specialise in First Aid then a higher qualification is required such as the Emergency Care in Mountain Rescue (ECMR) at either Intermediate or Advanced level, or the Cas Care course.

Good luck to a friend of mine, Joy Grindrod, who is being assessed for the Lake District Search Dogs this weekend with Cluanie's sister, Einich.

A long,tiring but successful weekend!

Cluanie and I were assessed for Novice  Mountain Rescue Search Dog at the weekend. After flunking our first area (my fault as I allowed myself to be overwhelmed by the size of the area in Cwm Ffynon), we then managed to pass all the following four areas. Not an easy task, as we then had no room for error and had to pass the rest of the areas. It was not easy to pick myself up from failing the first area, but fortunately Cluanie did not know we were on assessment and nerves were not on her agenda! She went about searching in her usual keen and efficient manner. As a result, on Sunday afternoon we were awarded the coveted red search dog tag.

Cluanie and I with our assessors overlooking our final seach area.

It is sad to say that the more search dogs you train, the harder the assessments actually seem. Cluanie is now my third Mountain Rescue Dog, and none of the assessments seem to get any easier!

In the mean time Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team was out on an epic rescue of two stuck climbers.