The team trains throughout the year every Wednesday evening, come rain or shine, in a wide variety of locations testing all aspects of our search and rescue skills.

This evening saw us at Moses Gate Country Park, Farnworth. (with thanks to Bolton Countryside Ranger Service for giving permission to exercise here)
Moses Gate Country Park and its associated woodlands, trails, riverside rock faces and water bodies, including the River Croal, is a regular ’incident’ venue for the team, so we train here for good reason.

This evening the scenerio involved three young adults who through misfortune had all fallen down a wooded rockface immediately by the ’Red Bridge’ on the River Croal. (These things tend to happen on exercise !)

Two seriously injured ’exercise’ casulaties were lay against trees amongst the steep sandstone rockfaces in the area, with a third having fallen down the rockface, and then rolled over a 2m drop and onto boulders in the River Croal.

25x Team Call Out list members attended this exercise, along with all five of our Team Vehicles, our Search and Rescue Boat and Water Team.

The whole exercise was concluded, including immediate casualty care, difficult evacuation from the rockfaces and stretcher evacuation back to the RVP at Rock Hall Information Centre car park, within 1.25 hours, being followed as usual by an immediate post exercise debrief.

We were joined this evening by Simon Watson, North West Ambulance Service HART (Hazardous Area Response Team) Training Manager, who had come along as an observer as part of the teams on going liaison with the NWAS (Manchester) HART Team. (See also website ’news’ article dated Wednesday 28th April 2010)

Thanks are extended to our excellent ’exercise casualties’ for the evening, who played out their parts a little too convincingly ; Vicky Edgerton, Paddy Confrey and Rob Edgerton, all three having journeyed a fair distance for the pleasure of being covered in fake blood, simulated serious wounds and injuries, then asked to lie very uncomfortably in two cases wrapped around trees on a rockface and in one case on wet boulders alongside a river ! (amazingly they all said they had enjoyed it so much they want to come out with us again !)