Holme Valley Team - member's training

Team Member's practicing Casualty Care on an exercise

Team Members are mainly motivated by their love of the outdoors, with most being active walkers, climbers and mountaineers.  However, all Members, whatever their level of skill, receive ongoing training in specialist disciplines such as first aid, casualty handling, navigation, search methods, radio communication and rope work, all of which are specific to Mountain Rescue.

Although essentially amateur, all Team Members must be competent enough to operate, often under pressure and in hostile environments, alongside professionals such as the RAF's Search and Rescue Helicopter teams, Police and the Ambulance service.  They must also be fully conversant with the wide range of equipment used by the Team. All of this training is done 'in-house, sharing our skills and experiences.

At the bottom of this page there are links to video clips from our last training exercise with the R.A.F. Sea King. Jump there by clicking here.

Training exercise with the R.A.F.

If you are interested in joining the Team we don't expect you to be a master of everything that we do. All we do expect is that you are at least capable of looking after yourself and others whilst out 'on the hill' and that you are able to show the willingness and commitment to learn new skills.

If you are a keen hillwalker, these skills may not be new, but the way you use them will require a new approach. Every exercise is different and over the course of a year you will encounter just about every aspect of Mountain Rescue. Through our proven record of 'peer training' methods Members with years of experience of Mountain Rescue, as well as the new Members, are continually learning or refreshing their skills.

A stretcher evacuation on steep ground.

This training is a time consuming commitment comprising 2 or 3 days/evenings per month, with annual weekends to hone mountaineering and winter skills.

Additionally, call out members are expected to achieve the Mountain Rescue Council's 'Casualty Care' certificate which teaches advanced first aid, and allows the holder to administer medical gases and specialist analgesic treatments such as morphine.Still interested in joining, follow the 'How to join' link to find out more...

Helicopter training with the RAF

RAF helicopter training

One of the most enjoyed and spectacular exercises of the year is when the Team gets to train with the R.A.F. Search and Rescue crew and their Sea King Helicopter. The Holme Valley Team (as with others) has the ability to call in the R.A.F.'s assistance if it needs to deploy search Teams of to evacuate a casualty from a remote or difficult location.

Of course, here in West Yorkshire we also have the Air Ambulance and the Police helicopters to call upon, but neither of these have winching capabiliites. So, because of this the Holme Valley Team aims to have regular annual exercises so it's Team Members are familiar with all the aspects of safety, winching and stretcher handling with the Sea King and its crew. But not only do the Team get to become familiar with the Sea King, the crew, stationed at Leconfield, have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the South Pennines.

Below are some links to video films made on our 2005 exercise showing the key aspects of how a Sea King helicopter can assist in a casualty evacuation. Please be patient as to retain quality, the video may take a little time to loaded and viewed.

Helicopter take-off (29 secs) Flying out a Hill Party is the fastest way of getting them out.

The flying experience (51 secs) Ever wondered what it is like to fly on a Sea King helicopter?

Hill Party dropped off (24 secs) The Hill Party is dropped off near the casualty site.

Stretcher winching (73 secs) Great skill and co-ordination of the helicopter crew can be seen to winch the casualty aboard.