“We rarely get a call out from a farmer, if we do, we know it is serious,” says Chair of Mayo Mountain Rescue Team (MMRT), Mike Keating.
Talking to Irish Country Living ahead of the busy summer season, he is quick to share the reality of coordinating this professionally operated, voluntary team.
Much of Mike’s time is spent wading through compliance and regulation paperwork. The policies and procedures that have to be done correctly. A bit like scrambling a crew for a rescue call: do it right and do it well.
When he joined MMRT 12 years ago, he brought strong mountaineering experience with him. The skills and perseverance he has acquired since then have been surprisingly office based, rather than mountain based.
Back to base
Operating out of the former FCÁ (local defence force) barracks in Westport, given to the team by Mayo County Council, this space is invaluable for training, storage of equipment and meetings.
Every member is a volunteer and Mike cites the benefits of having a couple of very dedicated people on-board.
Mayo Mountain Rescue, Westport, Co. Mayo. A voluntary organisation providing 24/7 emergency cover on the mountains and hills of county Mayo. Pic: Michael Mc Laughlin
“Colm Byrne, our current PRO, has been on the team about 30 years. He is now retired and Mountain rescue has become a full-time job for him,” he emphasises.
When an emergency call is made, it can either go directly to the mountain rescue team or the national ambulance service or to an Garda Síochána, as all have the same emergency response software.
The team will do their best to get to the location as quickly as possible. Bearing in mind the geographical spread of the county, sometimes, it can take members over 90 minutes to get to the rendezvous site.
Call outs to the islands are rare, and should they occur, the coastguard brings the team out. The coastguard helicopter crew are available for support if required.
“There was a call out a few years ago on the steep side of Mweelrea mountain and the best way to get there was by boat across Killary harbour. So, they ferried us across and back again,” explains Mike.
Life-saving tools
When tackling these challenging locations, Mike credits advancements in technology for reliable accuracy. At a call out recently, the team located the casualty on the map and after asking local farmers, they were given good advice on how to approach the area and for the return descent with the stretcher.
Grants cover just under half of the year’s funding so besides the call outs, fundraising is part of the voluntary experience with MMRT.
This is a busy team with most calls coming from the slopes of Croagh Patrick.
“We don’t get into judging people as to whether they should be doing something differently or not. If they call for help, we’ll help them but we don’t judge. People climb Croagh Patrick for all kinds of reasons and it is not our place to be asking what are you doing. We wouldn’t ever consider that,“ says Mike simply.
Eóin Mangan, Mountain rescue
volunteer
Growing up in Lahardane, between Nephin mountain and Lough Conn, farmer, Eóin Mangan is a recent recruit to Mayo MRT.
He is coming to the end of lambing his pedigree herd of Wicklow Cheviot sheep and Irish Country Living wonders if he ever had a crush full of sheep when the phone started beeping for a call out?
“That happened in the summer alright. We just have to try and work it. There will be times where I can’t leave what I am doing but the majority of the time, it will be ok,” he calmly replies.
Alongside his farming, Eóin works as one of only seven coopers in the country. His employer, Dair Nua cooperage in nearby Foxford kindly allow him to leave if a call comes in.
With Nephin on his doorstep, he took to hiking early. Local GP, Dr Nolan used to work on Reek Sunday (the main pilgrimage day to Croagh Patrick) and one year, Eóin went up with him. He met the team and from there, he was keen to join up. COVID-19 delayed his membership for a while, but he is now making his way through the training required for new recruits.
“I was a bit nervous at first about dealing with the injured person up on the mountain,” he admits.
“Once you are with the team and the situation is in hand, it is easier to experience,” he acknowledges.
Mayo Mountain Rescue, Westport, Co. Mayo. Eoin Mangan farmer from Lahardaune, who is a member of Mayo mountain rescue team, a voluntary organisation providing 24/7 emergency cover on the mountains and hills of county Mayo. Pic: Michael Mc Laughlin
Another aspect of being on the team he enjoys is just getting out on the hills.
“I did do a fair amount of hiking before joining, but since becoming a member, I have really improved my navigation,” he says of the training new recruits undertake.
His overall impressions so far?
“I didn’t realise how professionally run the team is. The training is excellent, it makes it a lot easier when everyone is great to work with,” he says with a broad smile.
Elaine Rowley has been on the team for 12 years. She is the current Team Lead. She shares her journey so far
“I’m Mayo through and through. From Castlebar, I work in Westport and am in good proximity for all the mountains down here. I have a very good employer; I work as an environmental health and safety engineer so there is an understanding that when a call comes in, I can go and work up the hours afterwards. I’m lucky in that sense.”
What is involved in becoming
the team lead?
“I have always been an avid hiker. I’ve hiked extensively, around the world; New Zealand, Borneo, Nepal and around Europe. When you start off in Mountain Rescue as a new recruit, you get lots of training. ?You get trained in casualty care, navigation, that kind of thing. All this experience builds up and then you begin applying that experience in roles throughout the team. I have been secretary and medical officer. Then I began as deputy team leader four years ago, so you do that apprenticeship under the team leader and they share the workload with you and you get the sense of the role. That sets you up to be more confident when you step in to be the team lead.
Mayo Mountain Rescue, Westport, Co. Mayo. Elaine Rowley is a member of Mayo mountain rescue team, a voluntary organisation providing 24/7 emergency cover on the mountains and hills of county Mayo. Pic: Michael Mc Laughlin
The key thing being the team leader is having that experience and the availability. The role has to be on top of your call outs, your training; you are organising in the background, fundraising, also the team leadership would have to attend the Mountain Rescue Ireland national meetings every couple of months and represent Mayo MRT. It is a big commitment and if you can give the time to it, you will do well as a team leader. It is challenging but it is also very, very rewarding.”
What kind of time commitment are you talking about?
“This week, Monday night we did training on a new stretcher we got, that was two hours. Last night, myself and the training officer were training our new members; doing scenarios with them to build up their confidence on call outs. Tomorrow, I am meeting someone about a drone. That is an area we want to get into; to help us on call outs. That is about eight hours for training and admin, then call outs will be extra to that.
The winter is our quietest period, but now, we will be getting busier and busier. Reek Sunday in July is our busiest day and we begin preparing for that from May. A committee organises this and invites all the mountain rescue teams from around the country to assist on that day.”
What number of people are you leading?
Glen of Immaal Mountain Rescue Team 1
“At the moment we have 32 members, eight of which are women. We are on call 24/7 and on a typical call out, we generally get 10-15 volunteers responding. I am managing them in a call out situation. We contact the casualty to assess the injury and the severity. Then, we call on our team and other external supports if required. We liaise with the personnel who go up to the casualty with the medical equipment - everyone knows their role on the call out whether they are carrying medical equipment or carrying the stretcher. Then there could be incidents that turn into multi-day incidents where someone has gone missing, so we call in other teams. We work closely with Galway mountain rescue if we need extra help. Also, we can call on Dublin, Wicklow and all the other mountain rescue teams in Ireland. It works that way; they can call on us too. We are a very close group and the association is a family really, we all work very well together. We train as much as we can to see how we can learn off each other. It is interesting, people would not be on the team if they did not get something out of it. A sense of pride, satisfaction, achievement and great learning and training. On a personal level it gives you a lot of skills and confidence to develop.”
And the last word?
“We are always looking to recruit people to join the team. If you have an interest in the outdoors, you don’t have to be a mad rock climber or anything like that, if you have the time and availability, a sense of adventure and want to help people, we want to hear from you.”
More info
For further details, please visit www.mayomountainrescue.ie
Read more
Watch: farmer airlifted off mountain after quad incident
The Donegal rambler: life in the hills
“We rarely get a call out from a farmer, if we do, we know it is serious,” says Chair of Mayo Mountain Rescue Team (MMRT), Mike Keating.
Talking to Irish Country Living ahead of the busy summer season, he is quick to share the reality of coordinating this professionally operated, voluntary team.
Much of Mike’s time is spent wading through compliance and regulation paperwork. The policies and procedures that have to be done correctly. A bit like scrambling a crew for a rescue call: do it right and do it well.
When he joined MMRT 12 years ago, he brought strong mountaineering experience with him. The skills and perseverance he has acquired since then have been surprisingly office based, rather than mountain based.
Back to base
Operating out of the former FCÁ (local defence force) barracks in Westport, given to the team by Mayo County Council, this space is invaluable for training, storage of equipment and meetings.
Every member is a volunteer and Mike cites the benefits of having a couple of very dedicated people on-board.
Mayo Mountain Rescue, Westport, Co. Mayo. A voluntary organisation providing 24/7 emergency cover on the mountains and hills of county Mayo. Pic: Michael Mc Laughlin
“Colm Byrne, our current PRO, has been on the team about 30 years. He is now retired and Mountain rescue has become a full-time job for him,” he emphasises.
When an emergency call is made, it can either go directly to the mountain rescue team or the national ambulance service or to an Garda Síochána, as all have the same emergency response software.
The team will do their best to get to the location as quickly as possible. Bearing in mind the geographical spread of the county, sometimes, it can take members over 90 minutes to get to the rendezvous site.
Call outs to the islands are rare, and should they occur, the coastguard brings the team out. The coastguard helicopter crew are available for support if required.
“There was a call out a few years ago on the steep side of Mweelrea mountain and the best way to get there was by boat across Killary harbour. So, they ferried us across and back again,” explains Mike.
Life-saving tools
When tackling these challenging locations, Mike credits advancements in technology for reliable accuracy. At a call out recently, the team located the casualty on the map and after asking local farmers, they were given good advice on how to approach the area and for the return descent with the stretcher.
Grants cover just under half of the year’s funding so besides the call outs, fundraising is part of the voluntary experience with MMRT.
This is a busy team with most calls coming from the slopes of Croagh Patrick.
“We don’t get into judging people as to whether they should be doing something differently or not. If they call for help, we’ll help them but we don’t judge. People climb Croagh Patrick for all kinds of reasons and it is not our place to be asking what are you doing. We wouldn’t ever consider that,“ says Mike simply.
Eóin Mangan, Mountain rescue
volunteer
Growing up in Lahardane, between Nephin mountain and Lough Conn, farmer, Eóin Mangan is a recent recruit to Mayo MRT.
He is coming to the end of lambing his pedigree herd of Wicklow Cheviot sheep and Irish Country Living wonders if he ever had a crush full of sheep when the phone started beeping for a call out?
“That happened in the summer alright. We just have to try and work it. There will be times where I can’t leave what I am doing but the majority of the time, it will be ok,” he calmly replies.
Alongside his farming, Eóin works as one of only seven coopers in the country. His employer, Dair Nua cooperage in nearby Foxford kindly allow him to leave if a call comes in.
With Nephin on his doorstep, he took to hiking early. Local GP, Dr Nolan used to work on Reek Sunday (the main pilgrimage day to Croagh Patrick) and one year, Eóin went up with him. He met the team and from there, he was keen to join up. COVID-19 delayed his membership for a while, but he is now making his way through the training required for new recruits.
“I was a bit nervous at first about dealing with the injured person up on the mountain,” he admits.
“Once you are with the team and the situation is in hand, it is easier to experience,” he acknowledges.
Mayo Mountain Rescue, Westport, Co. Mayo. Eoin Mangan farmer from Lahardaune, who is a member of Mayo mountain rescue team, a voluntary organisation providing 24/7 emergency cover on the mountains and hills of county Mayo. Pic: Michael Mc Laughlin
Another aspect of being on the team he enjoys is just getting out on the hills.
“I did do a fair amount of hiking before joining, but since becoming a member, I have really improved my navigation,” he says of the training new recruits undertake.
His overall impressions so far?
“I didn’t realise how professionally run the team is. The training is excellent, it makes it a lot easier when everyone is great to work with,” he says with a broad smile.
Elaine Rowley has been on the team for 12 years. She is the current Team Lead. She shares her journey so far
“I’m Mayo through and through. From Castlebar, I work in Westport and am in good proximity for all the mountains down here. I have a very good employer; I work as an environmental health and safety engineer so there is an understanding that when a call comes in, I can go and work up the hours afterwards. I’m lucky in that sense.”
What is involved in becoming
the team lead?
“I have always been an avid hiker. I’ve hiked extensively, around the world; New Zealand, Borneo, Nepal and around Europe. When you start off in Mountain Rescue as a new recruit, you get lots of training. ?You get trained in casualty care, navigation, that kind of thing. All this experience builds up and then you begin applying that experience in roles throughout the team. I have been secretary and medical officer. Then I began as deputy team leader four years ago, so you do that apprenticeship under the team leader and they share the workload with you and you get the sense of the role. That sets you up to be more confident when you step in to be the team lead.
Mayo Mountain Rescue, Westport, Co. Mayo. Elaine Rowley is a member of Mayo mountain rescue team, a voluntary organisation providing 24/7 emergency cover on the mountains and hills of county Mayo. Pic: Michael Mc Laughlin
The key thing being the team leader is having that experience and the availability. The role has to be on top of your call outs, your training; you are organising in the background, fundraising, also the team leadership would have to attend the Mountain Rescue Ireland national meetings every couple of months and represent Mayo MRT. It is a big commitment and if you can give the time to it, you will do well as a team leader. It is challenging but it is also very, very rewarding.”
What kind of time commitment are you talking about?
“This week, Monday night we did training on a new stretcher we got, that was two hours. Last night, myself and the training officer were training our new members; doing scenarios with them to build up their confidence on call outs. Tomorrow, I am meeting someone about a drone. That is an area we want to get into; to help us on call outs. That is about eight hours for training and admin, then call outs will be extra to that.
The winter is our quietest period, but now, we will be getting busier and busier. Reek Sunday in July is our busiest day and we begin preparing for that from May. A committee organises this and invites all the mountain rescue teams from around the country to assist on that day.”
What number of people are you leading?
Glen of Immaal Mountain Rescue Team 1
“At the moment we have 32 members, eight of which are women. We are on call 24/7 and on a typical call out, we generally get 10-15 volunteers responding. I am managing them in a call out situation. We contact the casualty to assess the injury and the severity. Then, we call on our team and other external supports if required. We liaise with the personnel who go up to the casualty with the medical equipment - everyone knows their role on the call out whether they are carrying medical equipment or carrying the stretcher. Then there could be incidents that turn into multi-day incidents where someone has gone missing, so we call in other teams. We work closely with Galway mountain rescue if we need extra help. Also, we can call on Dublin, Wicklow and all the other mountain rescue teams in Ireland. It works that way; they can call on us too. We are a very close group and the association is a family really, we all work very well together. We train as much as we can to see how we can learn off each other. It is interesting, people would not be on the team if they did not get something out of it. A sense of pride, satisfaction, achievement and great learning and training. On a personal level it gives you a lot of skills and confidence to develop.”
And the last word?
“We are always looking to recruit people to join the team. If you have an interest in the outdoors, you don’t have to be a mad rock climber or anything like that, if you have the time and availability, a sense of adventure and want to help people, we want to hear from you.”
More info
For further details, please visit www.mayomountainrescue.ie
Read more
Watch: farmer airlifted off mountain after quad incident
The Donegal rambler: life in the hills
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: