The mission creep of Mountain Rescue Teams

Thankfully I have never had to trouble the Emergency Services and call out a Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) for assistance. The few MRT members I have met, have all been volunteers and most if not all will concede how easy it is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time whilst out climbing or walking in the hills. There are fine margins for error in some hill environments, that can have serious consequences and probably, very few individuals who can say that they haven't experienced a near miss whilst out in the hills at some point. I have great respect for MRT's and their attitude in undertaking what is at times; dangerous, challenging and frustrating rescues.

The online magazine that I read for outdoor news is Grough and it is noticeable that in recent years the coverage has highlighted the mission creep of Mountain Rescue Teams activities, which reads more like Search and Rescue.

cyclist, pet dog, kayaker,  feckless off road motorists, flooding and feckless off road motorcyclists.

Which contributed to record years in 2015 for some MRT's e.g Coniston, Kendal and the nature of call outs illustrated by the Brecon MRT. The problem is that their skills are transferrable from the hill environments to other areas. I'll emphasise the point again, these are all volunteers.

From mid 2015 to 2017 the duties of Royal Air Force SAR helicopter services were handed over to a private company. When the UK Government announced the plans to privatise the SAR helicopter service, there were genuine concerns raised from MRT members, that commercial helicopter pilots might not be as enthusiastic or have a similar appetite for adventure as their RAF predecessors and Mountain Rescue Team volunteers would be faced with more time consuming rescues evacuating the injured from difficult terrain in challenging weather conditions and placing additional strain on already stretched resources.

The Statistics presented at the Scottish Mountain Rescue meeting in March 2015 give a breakdown of call incidents and hours of Mountaineering and non-Mountaineering incidents It appears that strain is beginning to tell as in early February 3 Scottish Mountain Rescue Teams were reported as considering leaving the umbrella organisation Scottish Mountain Rescue.  I can't say I blame them.