3 Aug 2009 : WInch Mob

At the weekend, the team had an unusual training day when they were joined by a Sea King search and rescue helicopter from RAF Rescue for joint training at Harborough Rocks, near Carsington Water.


Mountain Rescue teams often work very closely with helicopters during their activities. Air Ambulances are frequently used to take casualties to hospital from the remote locations where they might be found and Police helicopters are often used during searches fro missing people. The RAF Rescue helicopters, in addition to both of these tasks, can also be used to deploy rescue personnel to difficult to reach locations far quicker than teams could get there on foot and also have the ability to winch casualties and team members in and out of the aircraft when there is no suitable landing area. It was this aspect of operations that the joint training exercise concentrated on.


After briefings from the air crew a tour of the aircraft, small groups of team members were dispatched to various locations in the surrounding area to practice being winched into the helicopter, together with their equipment and transported to the exercise’s “deployment” area.

A team spokesman said: “This is one of the more difficult training exercises to arrange , but is invaluable in saving time when the team are deployed in this way in a real incident. It also happens to be an enjoyable day for the members, who after several recent incidents where heavy equipment has had to be carried up very steep hills, would be only too happy to have RAF Rescue available at most call outs”.



As so often happens during such events, the helicopter was called away to an incident and the exercise was ended prematurely.