Description
As a voluntary organisation Dartmoor Rescue Ashburton Team would love to hear from you. Whether you are interested in finding out more about we do, or are interested in becoming a trainee member then please go to the contact above.
Training
Training of the DRG Ashburton rescue team is mainly targetted at two main purposes. Firstly for continuous training of our established members and team leaders. Secondly for the introduction of new recruits into the team. New recruits (trainees) are vital to the ongoing success of the team and bring new ideas into the team.
Team Leaders
Within the team we appoint team leaders. Team leaders are usually the most experienced members of the team who have been appointed to lead member parties. Team leaders undertake a formal training program to establish themselves within the role. A log book must be completed as part of a formal training program before a candidate team leader is proposed before the committee. As a team leader they have the key responsibilty for team safety and decision making. They must be skilled in all aspects of search and resuce prior to being selected. They also liaise with the team controllers in order to co-ordinate search and rescue operations.
Trainess (new recruits)
We welcome new potential trainees to the team. Every 3 to 6 months we list the number of new enquiries to become traineee members. New potential trainees are then invited to come along to a number of Wednesday evening exercises in order to see it they and we think there is a mutual interest to becoming a trainee member. If selected trainees are provided with a DRG Ashburton log book.
The log book must be completed prior to being nominated to becoming a hill party member. The log book consists of all aspects of search and rescue including such items as Navigation, Radio Ops, First Aid, Helicopter Training, Rope Work etc.... On training exercises a trainee will normally be apointed to one of the specific tasks mentioned above with a full member shadowing them. If performing the task to DRG requirements a team leader will then normally sign the log book to formalise the training. The log book usually takes 12-14 months to complete. As an example Navigation includes core skills such as hand railing, aiming off, attack points etc. Each skill must be completed in 3 different weather conditions, usually at night. Academic suitability by completion of the log is only a part of the training. The other element requires the trainee to show general team working skills and a sound personality fit for the team.
Specific Skills
Once a team member there are a number of specialised areas that can be pursued. The team has an established swift water team for inland water ways, plus a skilled rope team for steep ground work. In addition to this specific training areas open up for helicopter experience with RAF Chivenor and SARDA, the dog search and resuce team.
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