Exmoor Search and Rescue Team

🚙 4x4 Training 🚙 3 Members of ESRT attended the MREW 4x4 course this weekend along with North Dartmoor and Tavistock teams to requalify and hone their off-road driving skills. After a quick theory recap it was out onto the wooded tracks and steep hills to put the Hilux, Ex93, through its paces. The ride in the back of 93 certainly gets bumpy when doing a failed hill climb. Thank you to the course deliverers Ian, John and Andy for a great course. North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team #ExmoorSearchandRescue #mountainrescue #LandRoverLove #landroverdefender #hilux

New Vac Mat This week ESRT took possession of their new Vacuum Mattresses from Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW). Before they can ‘go live’ everyone needed some hands-on training on how they function. What better than to do this in a dark wood to see how easy it was to use. Great bit of new kit, Thank you MREW🙏 Mountain Rescue England and Wales #ExmoorSearchandRescue #mountainrescue #learningnewskills #volunteers #fridayvibes

Whole team Drone training To upskill and familiarise the whole team we often receive training on one of the specialist sections and this time it was the drone section’s turn. Learning how the section runs, what equipment they have, what constraints they abide by etc, means that we can all assist when they ask for a particular piece of kit or have awareness of how best to deploy this particular search tool. The team has four qualified Drone pilots but any team member could be asked to be the observer or help get the kit ready. #ExmoorSearchandRescue #exmoor #northdevon #SARDrone #DronesForGood

March Bideford Festival of Transport AGM Thank you ESRT were honoured to attend the AGM of the North Devon Sports and Classic Car Club recently and say a huge thank you for supporting the team as their charity of the year through 2024. Team members received the last cheque of the year to add to all the other welcome support through last year. The team couldn’t operate without such generous donations, it’s very much appreciated. #ExmoorSearchandRescue #sundaymotivation #fundraising #nonprofitorganisationUK #northdevon #bideford

Mod 3 training course Chris from ESRT undertook the first day of his Mod 3 Swift water Rescue technician course alongside other members of North Dartmoor and Ashburton. The Rescue 3 course, run by ESRT team members Eoin and James, started their introduction to swift water with wading techniques against a strong current, followed by river crossing techniques. Even though the water was very chilly all the participants enjoyed battling against the flow. Good luck with the rest of the four day course everyone. #ExmoorSearchandRescue #learningnewskills #SwiftWaterRescue #Mod3Success #devon

March Water Section Training This month's water section training focused on the setting up of tensioned diagonals. Having practiced the setup on dry land, the next step was to set it up across the river with all the inherent difficulties which that entails…..tight working area, noisy water hampering comms, fallen trees snagging ropes etc. #ExmoorSearchandRescue #Wednesdaywisdom #waterrescuetraining #exmoor #OutdoorTraining

March Medical section training This month's medical section training was mostly aimed at refreshing skills in stopping bleeding. This includes all types of dressings in use by the team and the application of tourniquets where required. The section were also introduced to a new drug, TXA, that will support the clotting process in seriously injured patients. As a bonus, we started to get up to speed with the newly updated vacuum mattresses for spinal injuries. #ExmoorSearchandRescue #MondayMotivation #medicaltraining #nonprofitorganisationUK

Then and Now - Personal kit In the early days team members relied on their own outdoor clothing to keep dry and warm on the hill, with some sponsored fleeces. Now all team members are issued with full Mountain Rescue branded PPE kit to not only ensure we are protected from the environment but also so people know who we are when searching for lost and missing people. #ExmoorSearchandRescue #nonprofitorganisationUK #throwback #mountainrescue #helicopter #rafseaking #rafsearchandrescue #volunteers

This month’s Indoor meeting saw the team celebrating the whole of a team member's journey. Firstly, we welcomed three new probationary team members, Felix, Vinny and Phil T. Starting out on becoming a team member with all the skills to develop and systems to master. We also welcomed new Support team member Lucy. Next we badged new Full Team member Brad. After over a year of training he proudly received his red jacket from Deputy Team Leader Jo. Lastly we celebrated those team members who have dedicated their time to search and Rescue and received their long service certificates. Five year service certificates for Chris and Paul and 10 Years for Richard and Jo. Congratulations to all, very well deserved, whatever stage you are at in the life of a Search and Rescue team member, it takes commitment. #ExmoorSearchandRescue #searchandrescue #nonprofitorganisationUK #volunteers #devon #somerset

Drone Training Under a perfectly clear night sky the drone team practiced searching along a watercourse and examined the challenges with flying over flooded ground. The weather conditions produced stunning images on the thermal camera with perfect reflections in the water. Each of the pilots played with the colour palettes on the display to find what worked best for them in the conditions. It was interesting seeing the various heat signatures from people, stationary and moving vehicles, and even electricity transformers. #ExmoorSearchandRescue #DronesForGood #DroneSearchAndRescue #EmergencyPreparedness #nonprofitorganisationUK