Joint mock mountain rescue ‘a first’

Members of North West Mountain Rescue Team (NWMRT) have joined up for the first time with a group of scouts to carry out a rescue exercise on Slemish.
Broughshane scouts carefully carry their Slemish casualty to safety under the watchful eye of a member of the NW Mountain Rescue.Broughshane scouts carefully carry their Slemish casualty to safety under the watchful eye of a member of the NW Mountain Rescue.
Broughshane scouts carefully carry their Slemish casualty to safety under the watchful eye of a member of the NW Mountain Rescue.

The training event, which was held last Wednesday, involved an enthusastic body of 10-15-year-old members of Broughshane Scout Group.

After hiking up the steep slopes, the boys discovered an injured and very cold walker, aka Group Leader Neil Hall, to whom they administered First Aid before placing a simulated call to the NWMRT via the PSNI to effect his evacuation.

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The scouts, who helped carry the stretcher-bound walker to safety, were given a full taste of exactly what they could expect in the event of an incident in a remote or mountainous area such as they might encounter in the course of, for example, a Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

Speaking afterwards, Exercise organiser and assistant Scout Leader John Binns said the evening had been a great opportunity to practice the lads in First Aid, map reading and reporting procedures in a controlled by realistic scenario.

Deputy Team Leader of the NWMRT, Philip Neeson, congratulated the lads on ‘a job well done’ and pointed out that NWMRT, which is a purely voluntary organisation, is always willing to support youth organisations in their training through advice and education.

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