The Nine Edges
Team Casualty Care
Edale Mountain Rescue Team deals with over 100 incidents per year throughout the Derbyshire Peak District and beyond, most of which require some kind of medical intervention. Medical training and equipment is therefore extremely important.
The first aid taught to Mountain Rescue (MR) personnel has the same principles as that applied to accidents at home or in the workplace. However, Mountain Rescue first aid is generally significantly more advanced than that taught at St. Johns and Red Cross or First Aid at Work courses for the following reasons.
MR personnel can be working in an adverse environment and therefore this can become a significant factor in patient management.
The patients are often long distances from the ambulance and helicopter evacuation is not always possible due to bad weather.
Therefore, mountain rescue personnel need to be trained to cope with potentially life threatening injuries, in adverse environments, for extended periods of time.
The MR First-Aider must also be able to triage (prioritise) multiple casualties, select specialised medical equipment and choose appropriate evacuation techniques taking the injuries into consideration.
Doctors / Paramedics are commonly present, but this is not always the case. Training is designed to give MR personnel the ability and confidence to manage all the medical issues when further medical input is not available.