A search of Kinder on Saturday night for sixteen students from Nottingham followed by an emergency call to Coldwell Clough near Edale Cross on Sunday afternoon for a suspected heart attack casualty and then, just an hour later, a call to a hypothermic casualty on Kinder Southern Edge left the team kit severely depleted.

Cupboards and drawers at the team base were scoured in a search for dry equipment to replace that taken from the team’s operational vehicles and now in need of drying or repair.  The two Sunday call-outs had both been in bad weather and most of the equipment had been used at one job or the other.  Other equipment still had to be collected from hospital casualty departments.   The latest call-out concluded at about 19.00 hours but there was then another two hours of kit sorting for team members.  Sodden casualty bags and tents adorned the base and the atmosphere began to resemble that of a laundry. 

The Equipment Officer said, “This is the part of the job few people think about but we have to be sure that everything is ready for another call-out before we can go home.  The casualty bags and ropes will take at least two days to dry properly and then there will be another couple of hours work repacking and storing it all away.  This is the worst time of year weatherwise and we desperately need a spare set of everything if we want to keep both vehicles operational.” 

As the team members went home on Sunday night only one of the two vehicles was properly kitted and ready for a call-out.  When team members arrived home they then had to start sorting out their own wet gear. 

The team is currently appealing for funds to provide this urgently needed set of spare equipment and although some cash has already been raised it will probably be late 2009 before everything is in place.