Carrying a stretcher across Dartmoor in the teeth of a gale and in the early hours may not be your idea of a night out ? unless you are a volunteer with the Dartmoor Rescue Group.
Nestling under the trees in Abbey Rise is the Rescue Centre for Tavistock Section, home to 50 volunteers, of all ages and from all walks of life, committed to locating and helping injured or missing walkers on Dartmoor.
On call 24 hours a day 365 days a year, team members responding to police requests for assistance may find themselves involved in a night-long search in high winds and torrential rain. On other occasions they arrive at the control point only to be sent home because the missing person has turned up safely.
The origins of the group go back to the blizzard conditions of the 1960s when Dartmoor experienced its worth weather conditions for over 100 years.
Police called upon a group of civilian volunteers to help rescue a small party of schoolchildren near Princetown. It soon became apparent that the police were ill-equipped to conduct searches on the moors and as a result, civilians went on to establish a permanent Tavistock-based rescue team.
Forty years on and the Dartmoor Rescue Group now has four Sections ? Tavistock, Okehampton, Ashburton and Plymouth deploying almost 200 volunteers across the region.
For the men and women who respond to a call it?s a far cry from the canvas rucksacks and breeches of 40 years ago; today?s teams are equipped with high profile clothing to allow prolonged exposure to Dartmoor?s uncompromising weather.
The very latest in communications and satellite navigation technology is used to ensure casualties are located and evacuated as quickly as possible and this requires a volunteer force committed to training.
To become a call-out member requires not only a high degree of physical fitness but the ability to work as part of a team and the mental attitude to operate under difficult and sometimes tragic circumstances.
To meet these challenges, individuals undergo rigorous all-weather year-round training in first aid and casualty handling, casualty site management, day and night navigation and radio communication procedures.
Teams also train on a regular basis with the Section?s dog handlers, Devon and Cornwall?s police helicopter crews and the search and rescue services operating from RAF Chivenor.
When a local call-out is initiated by the Police, Tavistock?s controller sends a pager message simultaneously to all team members, providing them with a grid reference of the ?RV? from where a co-ordinated search will commence.
Two vehicles, a specialised control unit and a fully-equipped mountain rescue ambulance ? pre-packed in readiness for call-out - are dispatched to the scene.
As individual members arrive the controller begins the task of allocating teams and designating search areas. Deciding where to deploy search teams depends upon a range of factors ? information provided by the police, the number of people and dog handlers available. Tavistock?s controllers rely on years of experience in search management techniques and their skills ensure that teams are deployed effectively to locate missing walkers in any area and under any conditions.
Lightly equipped runners known as the ?hasty? team are dispatched quickly to cover large tracts of the search area. In the event of a quick find they are able to guide stretcher teams in to assist but in many cases larger ?sweep searching? teams are required to minimise the risk of a casualty going undetected because of poor visibility or difficult terrain.
Once located, information about the location of the missing person is transmitted back to the control vehicle. In the case of injury, additional information in the form of a casualty report or ?CASREP? is also transmitted to provide hospital staff with details of treatment given on the moor.
In clear visibility teams at the casualty site are able to direct the police or a RAF search and rescue helicopter to the scene through direct radio communication. In difficult areas or poor visibility, however, it is left to stretcher teams to evacuate the casualty, often over several kilometres of rugged moorland to rendevouz with a rescue vehicle.
Essential to search and rescue operations are the dog handlers who operate with a navigator. Dogs are vital to search activities ? particularly if the missing person is likely to be unconscious and hidden from view.
Over the years, Tavistock dog handlers have assisted the police in many searches ?out of area? which included the 1988 Lockerbie Air Disaster. On another occasion they successfully located the missing body of a murder victim in South Wales.
For the teams, however, there is more triumph than tragedy. In most cases, walkers have either got themselves lost or suffered minor injuries for which they are treated and evacuated.
Some incidents have had their humorous side although they have tested team patience to the limit. One Easter Sunday search was called off when the missing person, having left his partner on the moors following an argument, caught a train and turned up in London hours later.
Off moor, team members are also involved in a range of fundraising activities; these include search and rescue demonstrations and running stalls at community events.
The section also provides talks about its work to interested groups in the locality. With the exception of one or two small local grants and concessions, the entire running costs for the rescue centre, its two vehicles and all the equipment are met through public donation and the support of local companies.
In recent years, the section has benefited from the National Lottery with a £23,000 grant for a new LandRover ambulance and Tavistock branch of the British Heart Foundation recently donated defibrillating equipment.
A valuable source of income is also gained from collecting tins distributed throughout the region but members are always looking for new ways of raising funds to ensure the search and rescue service is maintained in the region well into the future.
Further information about the work of the section can be obtained from their web site at http://www.drg-tavistock.org.uk">www.drg-tavistock.org.uk and if you feel you can help with fund-raising in any way, or would like further information, the fundraising officer can be contacted by e-mail at