The Cornwall Search & Rescue Team (formerly Cornwall Rescue Group ) is a volunteer group established in 2003 to search and rescue people in Cornwall County, UK. Since there are many swamps in the county, this is an important part of the work of rescuers.
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History
The southernmost search team in the British Isles is the Cornwall search and rescue squad, but it has always had strong ties to the mountain rescue service.
In 1965, the climber’s club keeper Jim Smith created the first mountain rescue post in the southwest of Carn Galver Count House in West Cornwall; later a subsidiary post was created in the Lands End climbing area, however they were closed about 20 years later when the coast guard developed its cliff rescue capabilities.
Until 2002, incidents in inland Cornwall and on peatlands were not dealt with by rescue teams from Dartmoor and Exmoor. However, due to the increase in challenges, it was decided that Cornwall needed its own team.
Search Area
Cornwall has an area of about 3,500 square kilometers (1,400 square miles) and the team covers all the interior parts to the border with Devon. Although farmland and semi-rural areas occupy a large area of the county, more than 300 square miles (780 km²) are swamps, ditches and lowlands.
Although the team collaborates with four other teams in the eastern part of the county, its position on the cape means that it must be completely self-sufficient, not being able to count on immediate assistance from neighboring teams for incidents in the western areas.
Workload
Since its inception, the team has been one of the busiest in the southwest, responding to 40 to 60 calls per year. The team is also sometimes called upon to help during bad weather and during serious incidents, for example, it played a key role in the flood in Boscastle and during heavy snowfall in Cornwall in the winter of 2009/10.
Organization
Led by the team leader, the team currently has about 20 mountain rescue team members and 45 surface search and rescue team members, and one search and rescue dog association dog breeder. The equipment is located in three command vehicles, two of these vehicles are ambulances, and the third car carries most of the technical equipment for mine rescuers.
Team members train every Thursday night in the field throughout Cornwall, as well as one Sunday per month.
Financing
The team is a registered charity and survives solely on charitable donations. Unlike other emergency services, the team does not receive funding from the government, and in addition to regular training and challenges, team members must also organize fundraising events.