Galloway Mountain Rescue Team reflect on one of the busiest weeks for a number of years. Five days out of seven in the last week the team has been out, either on a search and rescue mission or a training event. It reaffirms the common belief that events often come in threes!
The first call out was received on Sunday 20th September, when Police Scotland requested our assistance to search for a missing woman near Kendoon, north of Dalry. After a short period of searching, assisted by local residents and local police officers, she was traced safe and well, having spent all night wandering in a forest north of her home. She was located by a local farmer and a police officer who were tasked to search the forest tracks in the area and taken to DGRI.
The second callout was over two days. We were originally alerted by Police Scotland about 9.30pm on Wednesday 23rd September, to a report of a missing farmer from High Barcaple at Ringford. An initial search involving ourselves, HM Coastguard and Rescue 177 from HMS Gannet was suspended overnight at 0045hrs. The search resumed at 0800hrs on 24th September, involving the same resources but widening our search area. Sadly, the body of the missing 69 year old man was located shortly before midday.
Callout three was received from Police Scotland about 8.30pm on Saturday 26th September, when we were requested to search for a man and a woman with their dog on the Rhinns of Kells near Carsphairn. The walkers had become disoriented whilst descending off Corserine towards Forrest Lodge. They were located safe and well by one of our personnel as he made his way to the RV point.
Our fifth outing for the week saw us venture to Black Loch for training on Sunday 27th September. Our Medical Officer focused our skills on evacuating seriously injured spinal casualties from steep wooded locations.
Ken MacKenzie, Team Leader said, “This is our busiest week since the Big Snow of March 2013. Sadly, the two day search for the missing farmer located a body and we would extend our condolences to his family. The other two call-outs were relatively quick operations; ending well.”
“During busy periods like this, when we successfully muster large teams of volunteer personnel, it reminds us how much we appreciate the support we receive from their employers. I’d like to express my thanks to all of the team member’s employers for releasing them to perform their search and rescue duties. Without their flexibility and understanding, we’d be unable to operate.”
For more information about the voluntary activities of Galloway MRT including details of incidents, training, walk routes and much more, visit www.gallowaymrt.org.uk.
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