North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Activities 2023

Jan 29, 2024 | News

North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Activities 2023

We are firmly into 2024 now and the weather continues to treat us during our training sessions on Tuesday nights.

2023 was a busy year, but one of lots of celebrations and hard work from a lot of incredible people throughout the community, who without, we couldn’t continue to do what we do. The launch of our new Incident Control Vehicle has made a huge difference to the Team and our capabilities.

  • In 2023, the Team had 34 callouts, made up of 23 Team callouts totalling 74 hours per person. Our Search Dogs & Handlers within the Team had 11 callouts to support our neighbouring teams and 3 storm standbys to support local agencies with flooding.
  • The average duration of callouts was 4 hours. Our longest callout totalled 12 hours and 45 minutes and our fastest was 50 minutes from initial callout to Members, finding and returning.
  • We are so much more than Dartmoor with 14 callouts in rural locations across Devon and Cornwall, 8 in urban areas, 3 of which were in Exeter and 12 on Dartmoor.
  • Our busiest months were April, October, November & December were equivalent to one callout per week.
  • The types of callouts: 9 for lost/injured, 25 for vulnerable/despondent and 3 for storm standbys.
  • Our callouts covered Exeter, North Devon, Dartmoor, East Cornwall, Exmoor and Somerset and on average, incidents required the Team to travel 45km (27 miles) from the base or home.
  • The Team had over 100 training and exercises, totalling over 600 hours per person of training from Casualty Care, Ropes, Swift Water Rescue, Search Dog – Dogs bodies days, Search Management, and Vehicle training as well as the core team training. This doesn’t include all the hours of maintenance, fundraising and additional operation requirements the Team uphold.
  • As a Team, we were on standby, out training or called out in every storm last year. We go out whatever the weather, any time of the day to train, support others in need and support our local community. We are all volunteers and rely solely on donations from the generous public, receiving zero funding from the government.

This is why we need your support to help fundraise for our new Team Waterproof Jackets and Trousers. This will enable our Team Members to continue what they do best, any time of the day, any time of the year, any kind of weather.