Joint Dartmoor Search and Rescue Training Exercise

Saturday, 17 February, over 40 Members from North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, Dartmoor Search and Rescue Teams Ashburton, Tavistock and Plymouth gathered for a joint exercise based at Postbridge in central Dartmoor. We also had Mountain Rescue Search Dogs accompanying us on the training day, two Police Search Advisors and Military representatives from 10 Tors to better understand what we do as Search and Rescue Teams.

In true Dartmoor fashion, the weather was best form – Fog, rain and strong winds on the exposed tops, which made for challenging conditions on the ground.

A big thanks to our sister team – Ashburton for organising a great training day and a special thanks to Rapid Relief Team for providing hot drinks, food and shelter, which were greatly appreciated by Team Members after returning from the cold and wet.

A spokesperson for Ashburton said ‘This exercise allowed us to test every aspect of what we do from the deployment of large number of search teams, radio communications, searching for long periods in bad weather, providing first aid in remote locations and stretcher carries across difficult and often flooded terrain. It also gave us the opportunity to work with our fantastic colleagues from the other Dartmoor teams’.