Thursday, July 14, 2016

What Volunteers Need To Know About Mountain Rescue Training

By Gary Hughes


Engaging in mountain climbing and skiing requires people who are daring enough to risk facing the dangers that come treacherous terrain. Falls are common accidents in such activities but one unpredictable factor is; the adverse weather conditions that worsen as one climbs. Volunteers who are interested in mountain rescue training must be up to the task to handle the challenges that come with this job.

Before you can enlist to be part of a search rescue team, it important to know what you are getting yourself into. This is not a paid job, at least not for volunteers. As a volunteer, you will offer yourself to be trained on how to save lives in treacherous terrain and adverse weather conditions. It means that you have to have another source of income to support yourself and family. It may also require you to relocate depending on where the team you are joining is based.

You have to be physically fit for you to enlist as a member of the rescue team. The activities carried out by these teams are physically demanding and you cannot accomplish them if you not up to the task. As you train, you will build endurance and can carry out difficult tasks successful over a long period of time.

You will need to have a good understanding of mountaineering skills for you to be an effective member of the team. You can get this training when you join a rescue team or from private organizations that offer structured courses. You need to be passionate about hill climbing as well. This is not something you have to be pushed to do it.

Teams must be trained on giving first aid to casualties. When people are rescued from mountains, most of the times they suffer from critical injuries. These include but not limited to bone fractures, spinal injuries, flesh wounds and cold injuries. Sometimes moving the casualty is impossible so they need to be airlifted. Adequate training is required for the team to be able to asses and know how to treat every injury.

To reinforce the skills required in this kind of work, teams are given both theoretical and practical classes. It is common to past experiences of other teams to learn important lessons. They can use that information to create solutions to challenges they face in the field.

Managing accidents is another critical topic when it comes to mountain rescue operations. Some missions are extremely dangerous that they claim the lives of the rescuers. This is the bitter truth that every aspiring volunteer must know. How you handle such situations may save lives or destroy them. These accidents range from helicopter crashes to falls from rocky terrain.

When a team sends a distress call to the command center, they are usually in need of urgent help. Sometimes, the communication equipment fails and they have to brave the life-threatening situation for days. The art of surviving in these conditions calls for special training that helps you sharpen your instincts to adapt accordingly to the extreme conditions. Survival tactics are very important as they help keep a team alive as they wait for help.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment