Equipment, Vehicles and Base

Equipment

The Team makes use of a wide variety of equipment covering a range of areas. These include:-

personal kit for individual Team members
technical climbing and rescue gear
specialist equipment for First Aid, Medical and Casualty Care
large pieces of logistics equipment such as field tents, shelters, vehicles and trailers

The Team issues each full Team member with a limited amount of personal equipment which includes a rucksack, waterproofs, first aid kit and Personal Protective Equipment. Team members provide all other personal requirements themselves.

All items of non-personal equipment are stored in the vehicles ready for deployment or at our Base in Selkirk.

Comms

To communicate with each other and the rest of the world whilst we are operating, we use individual VHF radios with mobile phones as a backup. There are also radio sets installed in each Landrover and in our control vehicle. As the areas in which we operate are often remote and the VHF radios only work in line of sight, we also have radio repeater stations to further extend our communication options. Some of the repeaters are fixed ground stations while one is mobile and can be set up where ever it is required and will be most effective.

Computerisation has also come to mountain rescue in the form of digital mapping. This helps with the management of searches. Combining this technology with the use of GPS microphones and trackers, Team personnel can even be followed in real time whilst they are deployed on the hill.

Vehicles

The Team currently has 2 customised long-wheelbase Landrovers that are used for transporting personnel, equipment and casualties. They are specially adapted so that it is possible to transport a casualty on a MacInnes stretcher inside the vehicle together with an attending First Aider. One of the Landrovers was purchased with the assistance of the Order of St John.

In addition, we have a Control/Base Vehicle. This is an ex-Police Ford Transit that has been customised for our use. It can be used to provide a mobile base when we are operating in more remote locations.

Currently one Landrover is on standby at the Base, one at the Police Station in Peebles and the Control Vehicle is kept in the Fire Station in Hawick.

There is also some information on vehicles the team has used in the past on the Team History page.

Base

The Team's Base is Scottish Mountain Rescue Post 88, situated by the Argus Centre, Goslawdales, Selkirk. The Base was built by Team members in the 1980s on land owned by, and leased from Scottish Borders Council.

The Base includes a garage large enough to take 2/3 vehicles, an equipment store and a classroom area and small climbing wall for training.