I have to agree with the Keswick MRT spokesman. We all have to take responsibility for our own actions. Make sure you are properly equipped and prepared when you go out on the hills. Personally I could never imagine setting out without my map of the area I am going to and a compass. Proper clothing, food and drink for the day. Last but not least a head torch and spare batteries if things do go badly and I get benighted. These are the bare minimum and I would never go on the hills without them. I suppose educating the majority of occasional walkers into thinking about the things that could go wrong and the minimum equipment they need to take with them is the hardest thing to do. I have often wondered why the owners of the car parks in walking areas do not have information like this on their noticeboards. There always seems to be information about the attractions and wildlife in the area. Why not safety warnings as well?
|
 |
 Can I just add a whistle - esp if you're on your own? So light, but can save a life.
|
|
 Let's just ban walkers completely, then MRT won't have to get called out at all. Sound like a plan? 
|
|
 I have often wondered why the owners of the car parks in walking areas do not have information like this on their noticeboards. There always seems to be information about the attractions and wildlife in the area. Why not safety warnings as well?
That would have been a good idea ten years ago, but not in this age of "elf and safety" when even coffee carries a warning that it may be hot enough to scald you. Because of such nonsense, nobody pays the slightest attention to warnings any more.
|
|
  Yes of course, that would all be correct if it were only keen sensible walkers heading out into wild areas. It is not. All kinds of folks go out there, for all kinds of reasons, and too the MRT gets called out quite often by the police in fact; to deal with all kinds of issues like runaway children and criminals on the run and suicides even too as well.
|
|
Lightweight gear = Inadequate protection = Exposure/Injury = MRT call-outs. ??
|
|
Heavyweight gear = exhaustion = exposure/injury =MRT call-outs. ??
|
|
 Mobile phones = "I can call MR rather than find my own way off the hill" ??
|
|
??
|
| Edited: 01/09/09 23:17 |
 The people in question being rescued don't tend to be lightweight-gear freaks, just generally ill-prepared. I do wonder if there is a correlation between the profile of MR in certain areas and the likelihood that joe public will call them out. My point being that because they KNOW there is an MRT for that area, they will call them for trivial matters. Snowdon and large parts of the Lakes being good examples. There are plenty of peripheral areas covered by teams that still get quite a high level of tourist traffic on the hills but don't get the same proportion of calls. But the first people they tend to call in these areas is the Ambulance Service... If the profile of MR was raised signifcantly, would the number of calls rise just because more people knew there was a service to call upon?
|
| Edited: 01/09/09 23:18 |
Mobile phones = "I can call MR rather than find my own way off the hill" ??
Not everybody can rely on a team being on exercise nearby Kate! 
|
|
Gear fit for purpose + fitness = comfort = enjoyment = no need for MRT ??
|
|
Mobile phones = "I can call MR rather than find my own way off the hill" ??
Not everybody can rely on a team being on exercise nearby Kate!
|
|
Gear fit for purpose + fitness = comfort = enjoyment - inability to use a map and compass = need for MRT  .
|
|
 Smug little formulae + simplistic outcomes = extreme irritation. 
|
|
|
|
|
There seem to be many people mis-sold inappropriate gear in outdoor shops (and by magazine reviews), who then go out thinking they can take on a Cairngorm blizzard without mishap. Personally, I'd much rather have something a little more substantial than a crisp packet protecting me from a raging storm. Such mis-selling has implications...
|
|
Extreme irritation = need for therapy
|
|
Smug little formulae + simplistic outcomes + CaI + extreme irritation = tautology 
|
|
Or a topical anaesthetic cream!
|
|
