With a briefing pre prepared by our Training Officer Alistair Greenough, our Wednesday 15th April weekly evening training exercise was co –ordinated by team member Michael Eddleston, from the moorland RVP on Green Arms Road, Cadshaw.
In total twenty four team members attended, inclusive of seven trainee team members.
The following report on last nights exercise has been made by Trainee team member Matthew Morris;
Team training exercise in the Turton Moor area
Tonight the team undertook an exercise to test team-working and navigation skills, monitor the personal hill kit of each team member, and test the team members improvisation skills in a scenario where the extensive kit we carry on our Land Rover Ambulance and other vehicles was not available.
On arrival at the rendezvous point (Greens Arms Road, Cadshaw, close to the junction with Blackburn Road), team members were allocated into small parties with a party leader.
Each party was given a set route to follow on Turton Moor by navigating to a list of coordinates.
Each party took with them a 50m rope, in addition to each team members personal kit. At 15 minute intervals the parties were radioed a different task by Control (operating from the warmth of our Land Rover Ambulance Bolton Mobile 4!). These tasks included demonstrating how to splint a dislocated shoulder and a fractured knee; demonstrating how to access a casualty on a steep slope and secure them using only their personal kit, until a full rope kit arrives; and demonstrating some basic knots including a figure of eight on a bight, a bowline on a bight and an alpine butterfly.
The final task was the most challenging – the parties each had to make an improvised rope stretcher, using any kit they had on them to make the stretcher more robust.
One (un)lucky team member was then to be carried using the improvised rope stretcher. All four parties managed to construct an improvised rope stretcher, although the distance they were able to carry their “casualty” varied considerably! One team even managed to prove they had carried their casualty by providing Control with a photo of their construction carrying the lightest member of their team Equipment Officer (Medical) Nigel Booth.
The exercise concluded at 22:05 hours, and the successful evening was brought to a conclusion with a team drink in the nearby Cross Guns Public House, Egerton.
