Penrith Mountain Rescue Team operate with a range of vehicles, boats, stretchers and teams. The team is currently in possession of 3 vehicles and soon to obtain a fourth. Below you can see more about each one and what they are used for. We also operate with the Coast guard and Air Ambulance who have their own aircraft in which the team is trained to work with.
Penrith MRT have 2 Land Rovers (Mobile 1 and Mobile 2) These vehicles are always fully packed and ready for the next callout so that we can get going in a moments notice. We also have a water trailer which is geared up and ready to go should we need to get bodies in the water
Mobile 3 is used as a bit of a jack of all trades in the team and can carry very usefull bits of kit to support the landrovers. Most importantly, this vehicles becomes Penrith MRTs control vehicle when it comes to larger scale jobs, such as searches. Inside the vehicle, we can set up an internet connection and communicate to all the volunteeers on the hill as well as other teams and emergency service. In this scenarion, all hill parties, report they progress and findings back to the control verhicle.
Mobile 4, Penrith's newes addition to the fleet. Bought from Derby MRT, this vehicle enables the team to carry more team members and equipment where needed. Mobile 4, is the last vehicle to leave base, so if you see us on the road, we probably have a big job on the go.
Our local air ambulance, the Great North Air Ambulance, based in Penrith is just a few minutes flying time from most of our area. We are also sometimes helped by the North West Air Ambulance based in Blackpool. Without a winching capability these helicopters have to land to load a patient. A paramedic is always on the crew which means that medical expertise with advanced pre-hospital techniques can normally be brought quickly to the scene.
These large, powerful and high tech helicopters replaced the iconic yellow RAF Sea King’s in the UK’s mountain rescue arena. Capable of flying in a wide range of conditions and with a large load capacity and winch facility they can be a very welcome sight on many mountain rescues.
