Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team round-up
By Scott Bisset, Welfare officer & Deputy team leader.
A VERY busy month for local Mountain Rescue Team.
The team has dealt with ten incidents in the past month!
For those of you who are relatively new to the area, the Teesdale and Weardale Search and
Mountain Rescue team (TWSMRT) provides search and rescue throughout County Durham. The
team is made up from up to 40 fully trained members, all of whom are volunteers.
Many people still think that Mountain Rescue teams only rescue people from mountains or fells,
which has been reinforced by recent TV programmes. This could not be further from the truth –
most M R teams in England and Wales spend the majority of the time on low level searches and
rescues.
The following is a summary of your local team’s callouts in the last 30 days;
- Team asked by police to search Hawthorn Dene, near Seaham for missing person, this area runs
down to the sea near Easington!
2.Team asked by police to help search near Lanchester for a missing person. Sadly, a body was
discovered by a team member.
- Team called to search the river Tees near Gainford for missing Male. Stood down when police
divers discovered a body. - Team called by NEAS (North East Ambulance Service), to extricate a patient from a remote
location by the river near Darlington. - Team called to person with leg injury near Low Force in Teesdale.
6.Team asked to search for missing Walker during the Durham Dale’s challenge. - While covering the above event the team were alerted to a RTC where a vehicle had left the road
and rolled several times before ending up on it’s roof. The team arrived on scene within minutes,
treated the driver and handed over to NEAS. - Team assisted 71 year old Male Walker who had collapsed, he was assessed then taken to hospital
for further examination. - Team requested to assist NEAS with patient near High Force.
- Police asked team to help with search for missing person near Shildon, sadly a body was later
recovered.
Hopefully this has given your readers an insight into the invaluable work this team does.
PS watch this space as the team will be recruiting later this year.
