This evening saw the first of four operational membership recruitment intake 2016 sessions taking place, since we opened for recruitment late last year.
From 32 persons who had completed an initial on line application form, twenty four had confirmed they would be attending this evening, the first of four recruitment sessions, all of which will combine to give interested parties a full overview of what being a team member is about.
Commencing at 19.00hrs, though most had arrived at 18.15hrs onwards, the 24 expected actually resulted in 21 turning up.
All were met with an interim interview by team members present, followed by an introduction by our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE and Training Officer Alistair Greenough.
DVDs on mountain rescue were followed by a written navigation test and a short questionnaire on the hill and mountain experience of the applicants.
The following team members then gave an overview of their experiences as Bolton MRT members;
Dave Marsh, our DVSD Handler, who joined the team in 1976.
Equipemnt Officer – Ropes and Stretchers Nigel Booth, who linked his team membership to his full time role as a GMFRS Watch Manager.
Alistair Greenough, our Training Officer, who mentioned how being a team member directly draws upon and compliments his full time role as an accident and Emergency Nurse.
Heath Doran outlined how being a new team member, having joined in October 2014 has been a fantastic experience, whilst Michael Wakerley outlined the commitment required.
An excellent buffet was prepared by Support group members Iain Clarkson and Sarah Hindle, following which team member Diane Blakeley (joined 1985) gave an excellent powerpoint presentation on the history and current operations of the team, with contributions from our Team Leader.
All applicants were then ‘led through’ the contents of an information pack on the team.
A detailed briefing then followed on what will be happening on the Saturday 30th January 2016, practical mountain rescue exercises day.
The evening finished at circa 22.30hrs, with many applicants staying on to ask further questions of the thirteen operational members present this evening.
Once the interested applicants had departed, some of our operational members stayed on to be introduced to ‘Lurch’ our recently purchased Simulaids STAT Man ALS Simulator Manikin, and despite the late time, conducted an impromptu training session using ‘Lurch.’
FOOTNOTE; Since this evening and prior to our recruitment session 2 of Saturday 30th January – the practical mountain rescue exercises day, three of the applicants who attended on Thursday 28th January, have contacted our Team Leader, to express thanks for the Thursday evening, and to say at this stage they do not wish to be further considered for team membership, but will reapply in the future when – in the case of two, their experience is better, and in the case of one, their personal circumstances will allow the commitment the team requires.
