UKC

The only experience I have of meeting an MRT member is them cool-ly assisting a poly-trauma patient into resus. Always wondered - what's your average day out with the MRT like? 

Contact your local team. They will be happy to talk to you.

The training and commitment is huge, don't under estimate the amount of time needed.

The time commitment is big. Definitely has to be something you’re interested in long term. However, they are usually keen to get members who have medical experience so you should be more diserable

The same also go's for Lowland Rescue, of which I am a member.

I should also add that it's much different from MR. In LR we're more focused on locating vulnerable and missing persons with a big emphasis on casualty care, for example, myself and 4 others in my team are First Responders. There are others who qualified for swift water and various other areas (like medical care at height).

I think the time commitment can be different depending on the team you're on and your own circumstances.

I was on a team outside of the honey pot areas (we had on average 2-3 shouts a month) and the time commitment didn't feel onerous at all. But then I had no real other commitments (no kids, pets, elderly relatives etc) and a flexible job so I had enough spare time to be doing plenty of my own climbing, running etc and team stuff was a fun addition rather than a burden.

'Usual' MRT work included quite a bit of standing in carparks in the rain, flogging around irrelevant areas for the third day of a search, driving out in the middle of the night to be stood down after 20 mins, carrying heavy rucksacks up a big slope to get a better view of a helicopter sorting the situation out before you arrive, and some amount of slightly tedious fundraising, kit cleaning, repetitive training, and committees.

On the flip side you get to play with some great toys, hang out with a fun bunch of people (which makes all of the above much more enjoyable), and occasionally do something really special helping out someone in need. It was great fun and I loved doing it, if I hadn't had to move away from the mountains due to work I still would be.

Sometimes it's helicopters, crags and flares against a black sky in stormy weather. Sometimes it's standing around in a community centre car park waiting to hear if the misper was in the cupboard in the nursing home the whole time.

It's dedicated volunteers doing amazing things but also petty internal politics and often a leadership hierarchy based on who can give the most time, not the best person for the job. There can also be a huge variance between standards, team structure and operational procedures between different teams, regions and even countries. There is a lot of overlap but the difference between two adjacent teams can be striking.

Mountaineering club shenanigans with added stretchers and morphine might be a pithier description?

In many ways ALSAR have a better idea of structuring the whole thing - being newer and not having to fight against decades of "we've always done it this way" has meant you can start from scratch and come up with better systems and practices.

Most team members would probably say that there was no such thing as an "average day out" as they vary so wildly.  What one plans mentally as being a short job or walk in the park can end up being an epic (much as in mountaineering) and those jobs seen as possible epics might quickly resolve themselves.  Much as already said above.

Jobs might involve spending the night enduring foul conditions to recover someone's remains from the base of a mountain crag; a two hour jolly to assist someone with a slight ankle sprain on a glorious summer's day and assisting in an urban search for the victim of a paedophile. 

It's very disruptive to "normal" life but very rewarding.  

That might be true, but I have no experience with MR. Plus I haven't been with my team for long to get a feeling for the politics involved.

But, it is a really good experience and I enjoy working and training with the team.

Mailed you my experiences, opinions. FWIW, it's worthwhile and I won't be stopping any time soon.

For some it's a vocation and payback giving back to a way of life in a remote area with a small population and almost obligatory if you climb as teams need the man power and tech skills. For some few its kudos. Most teams have a hardcore of guides and MIC's and really good local mountaineers and other fine folks such as keepers/stalkers who are extremely honest and competent. Sadly there are also some who verge on the useless or incompetent but like to strut their stuff in expensive gear. For them MR is a sport and they often sport many badges. Its either extremely hard work and sometimes dangerous, or at others times a boring chore. I would discourage  my son to get involved (if he wanted) until he had got his personal climbing itch fully scratched and was mature enough to deal with the bodies and keep his personal climbing ambitions firewalled from MR.  So it's a contribution and being his brother (and sisters) keeper and doesn't risk becoming an addiction.  All the toys, gear allowances, kudos and flying around are a buzz but while its not voyurism it doesn't do to forget that it relies on others misfortune to justify itself. Increasingly as teams build infrastructure and gain good vehicles MR needs a lot of money to support it. It also hammers relationships as the buzz and addiction is layed on the family with them unable to challenge the fine chap and volunteer hero who misses lots of family stuff as he's out saving lives. It's also a cause of PTSD for some, and unlike most EMS with vetting, many vulnerable folk with hidden mental health issues are exposed to traumatic events and go off the rails.  The real heros are the wives and kids who put up with the shit. Other than that its a very rewarding task, with many fine and brave folk and most especially in the remote areas you find teams of fine folk who will be just as happy to look for an old bodach missing from his home, scouring a beach for a missing fisherman or treading high tops in the worst of weather. They are their community, and not as some teams remote from it and only doing "mountain rescue".

I'm sometimes still surprised at what a middle-aged academic gets up to out of the office - it can be a body recovery, treating a traumatic injury, searching for someone who wants to end their life, or searching for a missing five year old in the largest police search ever in the UK. I joined because after an accident in which I'd been helped out by MR, I wanted to 'give something back'. That 'something' includes a lot of standing round waiting, of never being deployed onto the hill, of being stood down whilst still on route to the incident, of getting cold, tired, wet, hungry and thirsty. And of getting plastered in mud, and trashing clothes and equipment that I've bought out of my own pocket. The cost of being in Mountain Rescue is not insignificant in terms of money (that kit and petrol), and time.

What's good about it? I get to do stuff I'd never conceived I would; I get to help the community; I meet people from all walks of life both within and without the team; I get to play about in rivers; I get to fly in helicopters (very occasionally!) I got to see the look on a bloke's face when we told him his elderly senile dad was ok after he'd been missing for a couple of days, and found in a ditch by a searchdog. And I get to challenge myself constantly - including the challenge of getting up at 2am when I have work the next day.

It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done, and I wish I'd found it when I was younger!

Thanks for all your thoughtful replies. It's really demystified the mysterious role of MRT somewhat; sounds like a great challenge. It's amazing that so many people volunteer to do this work. I hope one day I will have the skills to join an MRT, too.

Dear Rockface

The skills required very much depend on the team to which you are local to.  Get to know your local team, catch up with them on a fund raiser or email them and if you are still genuinely interested offer yourself to be a body, supporter, fundraiser, vehicle washer, floor sweeper, tea maker.  Persistence is a key skill (but not pestering..) 

Talk to them about what it takes to join their team, they are all different with varied terrain, workloads and expectations. The most overlooked skill that applicants miss the that of fitting in with a team.  That does NOT mean you are the same colour, sexuality or gender.  It is just about building a mutual trust with  a good proportion of the existing team. 

The hero mountaineer never makes a good team member as the teamwork element is never there.  The modest mountaineer who has done it all but never mentions it is what makes the best team member but anyone with the time and temperament can make an excellent team member. 

Work out what you want from it and see if that adds up to the commitment you will have to give. 

Must have been great not overlooking the dangers and risques involved in the job. Still regret that I didn't grab the opportunity when it came owing to family issues. Have a great day.