Moffat Multi-team Multi-agency Winter Joint Exercise 2022

This weekend has seen the welcome return of the Moffat Joint Exercise; a multi-agency exercise hosted by Moffat Mountain Rescue Team last held back in 2019.  Usually an annual event, the team began the planning back in July to ensure the weekend was one to remember!

We were joined by North West Mountain Rescue Team from Northern Ireland, Borders Search and Rescue Unit, Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team, Galloway Mountain Rescue Team, Strathclyde Police Mountain Rescue Team, the Scottish Ambulance Service, Moffat Fire and Rescue Service as well as special guests Iain Monro from V-Division Police Scotland, James Richardson from Dumfries and Galloway Council, Ryan Macfarlane from the Met Office and Graham Crawford from Lyon Equipment.

The overall theme of the weekend was Winter.  Saturday took the format of workshops focusing on the multi-agency incident, command and control of a winter rescue and winter avalanche medical skills.  

In the multi-agency incident workshop there were presentations from the Met Office, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Dumfries and Galloway Police, Moffat Fire and Rescue and Scottish Ambulance Service representatives to discuss how their personnel manage a multi-agency incident and how we all work together to a common goal.

The winter medical workshop saw a focus on avalanche rescue and how to approach casualties in this situation including limb injuries and managing an avalanche or hypothermic cardiac arrest in difficult conditions.

The winter rescue workshop explored the tactical aspects of commanding an avalanche incident with involvement from multiple agencies as well as provoking discussion and building on the work of the South of Scotland avalanche group.

The teams worked together to share learning and practical skills before sharing a well-deserved meal at the Annandale Arms Hotel with a presentation from Nigel McDonald of Police Scotland Mountain Rescue Team updating all on the expansion of their team and services.

Sunday was a practical day spent in the Moffat Hills and, with some imagination, simulated the search for a missing team of walkers and climbers who had been observed being caught up in an avalanche.  A command centre was set up in the Moffat Mountain Rescue base with the Moffat Control Vehicle stationed at the foot of the valley to ensure everyone who was deployed into the search area returned safe and well.

After a hasty team assessed the suitability of the (imaginary) snow for the safety of a full search, teams mixed from different MRT groups were deployed onto the hill to search for the party.  Searches included the use of avalanche transceivers and probes to locate the casualties before medical treatment was provided and the casualties were extracted from the hillside, with a stretcher evacuation and rigging skills thrown in too!

The weekend was enjoyed by all and the Moffat MRT would like to thank all who participated over the weekend to make it so worthwhile.

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