Exchange of Expertise with Members of the Austrian Mountain Rescue

By Joe Pond Team Leader DMRT

In the autumn 2009 Donegal Mountain Rescue had the privilege of receiving delegates from the Austrian Mountain Rescue association for two days to show them how we operate here and in particular how we use our GPS radio tracker system in search management. As part of the exchange all Team leaders from Irish Mountain Rescue were invited to go to Austria in June 2010.

The trip was broken into two parts, the first 2 days we spent learning in great detail how mountain rescue works in Austria and their relationship with the other emergency services. The second part was to spend two full days training with them in the mountains.

I found the first two days of the visit interesting in many ways. One major thing was the way all the emergency services work literally under the same roof all receiving funding from the government, that included the fire service, water rescue, ambulance, and Mountain rescue with the 999 callout service operating from the one central location in Rankwell. This really did seem to make for a very smooth operational relationship between all the services with them all working in the same direction.  It was also interesting to see a different approach to crisis management or in others words the care needed to psychologically help victims of trauma particularly the volunteer rescuer. Since we have returned home we in Ireland have started to follow a similar course of action with senior members from all 12 mountain rescue teams attending a weekend training course on this topic. We were all well impressed with their bases having a Bar for its members we all voted to have one of those!!

We had a tour of one of their helicopter bases what was interesting here was that the Landing pad and hanger was suspended forty feet in the air. When a callout came in a computerized track system moved the Heli outside ready for take-off, granted it was a tiny helicopter when you compare it to the S-61 search and rescue helicopter in Sligo. After these very informative couple of days we moved into the mountains to do some actually training with them.

Most of us from Ireland thought it best to take the 2 hour hike to the hostel, it was a fantastic walk with panoramic views at every turn, at times I had wished I’d have gone in the 4X4 but on Sunday when we came down to the road again to get the plane home in the 4X4 well I’ll just say, a few times on some of the bends I thought I would need a change of trousers!!. The Alpine Hostel looked amazing situated 3500 feet above sea level the air was clear; we could see the Swiss Alps from the Hostel. But whereas the views were amazing the Sleeping arrangements were like nothing else I had ever experienced, just one bunk bed for the twelve of us, six on the bottom bunk and six on the top with only enough room to turn over!

The following two days were full of intense training in rope rescue techniques, they showed us their stretcher lower equipment and techniques, also some single rope ascending, and some winched stretcher raises. One of their helicopters came up to show us how they lift mountain rescue members into the mountains, the fog came in at this point so we didn’t get to see it, but were told they all attach themselves on a winch cable attached below the heli in groups of four, it would have been amazing to see.