RESCUE teams on Dartmoor have been given a high-tech boost to their moorland search and rescue operations.
Okehampton section of the Dartmoor Rescue Group has been presented with two laptop computers by a South West firm.
A former police control vehicle has just been donated to the Okehampton section and LSI Computers will also pay for a paint-job on it as part of the £4,000 sponsorship deal. The vehicle will be resprayed with new colours and the Dartmoor Rescue Group
livery.
The Okehampton section now has two control vehicles and each will have one of the newly acquired laptop computers for mobile use during search and rescue operations.
Clive Madders, treasurer of the section and one of the search managers, said: "It means we will have a mobile control unit rather than constantly having to report back to base, and our search and rescue operations will become even more sophisticated.
'We will use data stored on the laptop to research the likely
behaviour patterns and routes taken by missing people, both on Dartmoor and in urban areas.'
Mr Madders said the computers would provide statistical analysis to establish the way missing people would react in certain situations.
'For instance, a child will take the line of least resistance. He will always tend to walk downhill or along a valley and not necessarily towards civilisation. And he will invariably end up walking around in circles.
'From a last known position, and details of the person reported missing, a computer will help us calculate very accurately the likely route taken and the area in which someone can be found,' added Mr Madders.
Dartmoor Rescue Group receives around 50 call-outs every year. The group is particularly busy supporting the police and working with the Army during the annual Ten Tors event.
RIGHT: Graeme Brown (left) of LSI Computers, presents the laptop computers to the rescue group's Clive Madders.