31 Dec: The team was called out at 2251 to assist Police, RNLI and Coastguard with some Water Team presence. We were searching for a 16 year old boy who had jumped into the Tamar from the Torpoint Ferry. Team stood down at 0300. The team reconvened the next morning, but was stood down again in the afternoon. To date nothing has been found.
2 Dec: The team was called at 2115 to search for a high risk male in the Stag Lodge area of Plympton. Despite a large police and team presence he was not found. We were due to reconvene in the morning to carry on the search, but were informed that he had been found.
21 Nov: Team on standby to assist Police/Fire Service at Exeter due to flooding. Water team had to give their availability to attend in case of emergencies. The team was stood down from standby late the next day.
3 Nov: The team was called out to assist the Ambulance Service at 1730. Injured 69 year old male on the moor near Norsworthy Bridge, lower left foot injury. A female who had been walking with him met our team members at the car park, and with the assistance of the photos she had taken of the casualty site and surrounding area, they were able to guess the approximate location of the casualty. Within 25 minutes, the team members had found the casualty who had also been found by the ambulance crew. Within another 20 minutes about 25 other team members from Tavistock, Ashburton and Plymouth teams (who were on a training weekend at Okehampton) were all at the cas site, and stretchered the injured male about 800m off the moor to a waiting ambulance at 1930.
14 Oct: The team was called to Shipley Bridge at 1607 to assist SW Ambulance Trust stretcher off a 53 year old Belgian male with an injured knee. He was successfully taken off the moor by land rover, after he had managed to get himself down to the waterworks access road.
9 Oct: Team called at 1514 to look for a missing 70 year old woman in the area of Harford Moor Gate. She was found by one of the team along the Puffing Billy Track not long after being deployed, and taken off to Cantrell Gate safe and well. See news page for an update.
12 Aug: The team was called out at 2355 to assist Ashburton team search for a female Alzheimer sufferer in the area of Cockington Court near Paignton. Both teams were stood down in the morning. The missing lady was found safe and well by the police helicopter in a valley in the Occombe area just after 1415 on 13 Aug. Police officers became concerned for the safety of the 76-year-old who was reported missing from her home in Torquay on Sunday.
3 Aug: Team called out to Gutter Tor at 0052 to assist Tavistock Team to look for 6 scouts overdue at their checkpoint. Despite finding some people camping on the moor, they were not the scouts in question! Ashburton Team called to take over at 1000, but all Team’s stood down at 1100 after the Scouts were found safe and well.
21 Jul: Team called at 0130 to Sparkwell to look for a 14 year old girl who had been missing since 2230 on the 20th. Just as we were arriving in area she was found safe and well by Police in the first area we would have searched.
Sat 7 Jul: Water team called to assist Police and Fire Service at Yealmpton and at Tor Bridge. Torrential rain overnight caused horrendous flooding in the Yealm valley area with Tor Bridge at risk of being swept away. Joined Ashburton Water team and searched riverside for anyone still trapped by water in their homes. One lady brought to dry land using an inflatable boat. Stood down later in the afternoon. Team stood down from being on standby on Sunday when there was no further risk of flooding.
Sun 1 Jul: The team was called at 1619 to assist an injured female in the Cadover Bridge area. As we were deploying, Ambulance control advised that the casualty had been evacuated by Air Ambulance.
Sat 5 May: Team called to Riverside Caravan Park, Marsh Mills at 1530 to search for a high risk male. They were located soon after at 1730. However the team was reconvened at 1930 to search for them again. The police got a positive sighting at 2020.
Tue 6 Mar: Training cancelled to go and RV at the Tamar Bridge car park to search for a missing person. The police located the man as we were waiting to be briefed.
Wed 8 Feb: Called at 1520 to RV at Salcombe Police station to look for a 59 year old suicidal male. Joint search with Ashburton. Stood down at 2200. (update – have just heard from Ashburton’s Search Manager that the subject was found deceased in the river following morning).
Mon 30 Jan: Called out at 0350 to Hardwick House Plympton to look for a high risk 52 yr old male with learning difficulties. Stood down an hour later before the team had deployed.
Sat 21 Jan: Called by Paignton Police to attend at Lupton Park to search for a 52 year old woman missing after attending a course on Friday. Ashburton had been out all night. We were joined by Tavistock and searched the grounds all day with no luck. The search dogs were called to attend on Sun 22 Jan but a concerned lady in Brixham notified the police that a body had been found which matched the description of our misper.