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cliff rescue team

From its earliest days, The Ambulance & Rescue Service has provided the Islands' cliff rescue team.

General Description

Staff on the team are trained in cliff rescue techniques and casualty evacuation using recognised climbing and mountaineering equipment.

Sometimes members of the Cliff Rescue Team will accompany the patient in the Inshore Rescue Boat. A great advantage of the Ambulance & Rescue Service is that staff on the Cliff Rescue Team may also be members of the Inshore Rescue Boat crew and will therefore know the boat's capabilities. All are trained Emergency Medical Technicians or Paramedics, operations are carried out with a professional awareness of the patient's clinical condition. Cases have occurred where the original rescue responder who abseiled to the casualty, also accompanied the patient in the inshore rescue boat and on the subsequent trip by ambulance to hospital and handed over the patient to Accident and Emergency staff in their role as Emergency Medical Technician or Paramedic.

staff

The members of the Cliff Rescue Team are primarily trained as Emergency Medical Technicians or Paramedics.

They undertake the further training in the special techniques and equipment needed to perform the potentially dangerous task of rescuing people and animals from the cliff faces or sheer rock walls of inland water-filled quarries.

Selected members attend training courses in the Peak District and Snowdonia, the more experienced, senior members instructing the newer recruits on their return to the Island. On a regular basis two instructors from the Mountain Rescue Centre at Plas y Brenin come to Guernsey to conduct a week's intensive course with Guernsey's Cliff Rescue Team members.

climbing wall

In 1999 an indoor climbing wall was built at the ambulance service headquarters to enable difficult techniques to be practiced in safety and in all weathers before being performed on potentially dangerous cliffs.

The wall has a vertical face, a sloping face and an area of free hanging to simulate over-hanging cliff edges. Unlike normal recreational climbing walls it includes a top platform to enable member to practice rescue rope work and stretcher winching.

technical details

The cliff rescue equipment is stored at the Ambulance & Rescue headquarters, ready to be dispatched to the Island’s cliff coast. Equipment is stored in packs or rucksacks, clearly marked or colour-coded according to use for quick and easy identification.

our equipment

Ropes: 11mm or 12 mm super polyester braid line

Hardware: Pitons, Karabiners, Ascenders, Descenders and other items used as necessary

Stretcher: Troll Alphin (mild steel frame & polypropylene bed)

Winch: Tirfor, Evak 500. Used in conjunction with Gri Gri ascenders, pulley systems and shunts.

Harness: Troll sit harness. RAT (Rescue and Access Technician) harness.

funding

As with all the rescue functions of the Service, the cliff team does not receive government money, but relies on donations from the public for its survival. Training sessions are expensive to run and equipment must be of the highest standard, but no charge is made for genuine rescues undertaken by the team.

history

Even during the German Occupation of Guernsey in the Second World War, ambulance staff were tasked with rescuing airmen or others on mine-covered cliffs. This continued during the post war years, using what are now basic techniques with canvas protectors, hemp rope and sheer manpower heaving the patient up the cliff.

In 1973, a review of the provisions within the Ambulance & Rescue Service led to the re-establishment of the team on a more structured basis. Team members were organised and trained in three categories.

New techniques and equipment were introduced, training was improved and selected team members attended Plas y Brenin mountain rescue centre in North Wales.

As techniques improved further visits were arranged and methods are now constantly reviewed in the light of current practice and developments in equipment, and training visits are held regularly.