2024 Callouts
17th December
The team were called by Devon & Cornwall Police on behalf of Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team - Tavistock shortly after 17:40 on the 17th to search for a missing 10 year old at Morwellham Quay.
It was wet, windy and already a dark night, so we had been immediately called alongside Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England teams, Plymouth Coastguard Rescue Team, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, NPAS Helicopter and the RNLI from Plymouth Lifeboat Station.
Around 19:15, one of the DSRT Tavistock search teams heard a noise and located the child who was stuck in some brambles in the woods near the river, about 1km from the place he was last seen.
The child was returned with them to the car park in a DSRT Tavistock Land Rover, and was assessed by a doctor.
A fantastic result for all concerned. Both teams wish the young person a speedy recovery and a Merry Christmas!
15th December
At 21:20 Sunday 15th December, we were called out by Devon and Cornwall police to the Yelverton area, to help look for a high risk missing person.
19 volunteers attended the scene. Teams were briefed by the police, search areas were allocated and the Landrovers were utilised to transport teams to their relevant search areas around Clearbrook and Meavy, up to Burrator Dam.
After 4 hours of searching for the male, we were stood down without finding him. However the police continued to search for him overnight and were rewarded when he was located safe and well the next morning.
11th December
The team were called by Devon & Cornwall Police shortly before 0745 to search for a missing soldier who was overdue from a night exercise.
The team gathered at Gutter Tor Refuge alongside Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team - Tavistock and dog handlers from Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England while a plan was made for likely search locations. Small teams were tasked to search for the missing soldier and set off in a “bomb burst” pattern towards the last known location, just in the case they had bedded down for the night in the locality.
Before teams could get out on the hill, the team Search Managers had sent a SARLOC (Sarloc Rescue) text to the MISPERs phone. The MISPER eventually replied by following a link in the text which gave the team their GPS location. A Land Rover with a Team Casualty Carer was then tasked to rendezvous with the MISPER a few miles away near to Whiteworks, just outside Princetown.
The NPAS helicopter had located the MISPER from the air just as the team vehicle arrived, so after a quick check over by the team Casualty Carer, the cold but otherwise ok MISPER was handed over to their training instructors for a thorough debriefing. The team stood down at 0949.
29th October
At 17:00 hrs, we were called out to the Hen Tor area of Dartmoor to assist the police in locating two missing walkers.
They had called 999 and told the police that they were lost on the Moors. The police sent a SARLOC text to the phone of the missing person which, if clicked, provides the police the phone's location.
The two lost walkers did the correct thing by staying where they were and using their torch to illuminate their location. As a result, the light was spotted by the team on the opposite side of the valley. The two walkers were found safe and well but simply were lost and unable to find their way back to their car.
The team stood down at approximately 22:00 hrs after reuniting the walkers with their vehicle.
4th October
The team was mobilised in the afternoon to help our sister team from East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team in St. Cleer, Cornwall to search for a high-risk missing woman who was local to the area.
We combed several areas around the village but were unable to locate her, and were stood down later that night.
A few days later, sadly, Devon and Cornwall Police released a statement that the body of a woman had been found in the St. Cleer area.
Our thoughts are with her friends and family at this difficult time.
9th, 10th and 11th July
In support of our colleagues from East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team, we were called to the outskirts of Looe to assist with a search for a high-risk missing male, who was on holiday at one of the caravan parks in the area.
Being tasked by Devon and Cornwall Police, we searched many of the fields and farmland areas around the vicinity of the park.
After three continual days of searching without any success, we were stood down without further search areas required.
3rd July
At 1855 hours, the team were called out by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust to help locate two hikers undertaking their Duke of Edinburgh course, believed to be in the Plym Head area on Dartmoor, south of Princetown.
A swift response team, along with Paramedics were dispatched to their location, whilst our Land Rovers took stretchers and other required equipment closer to the scene, via Gutter Tor and along the track towards Plym Ford.
On finding the two hikers, they were found to be suffering from hypothermia and Devon Air Ambulance was requested to assist with an immediate evacuation to hospital. Their remaining team members were assisted back to Nun’s Cross Farm.
It was good to see that the hikers did the correct thing when members of their team were unwell. They stopped, erected tents and called the emergency services.
We wish to thank our colleagues from Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team - Tavistock, SWAST and Devon & Cornwall 4x4 Response for their assistance. It was a good example of how seamlessly different emergency response teams work together.
The teams then made their way back to Peat Cott, and were stood down around midnight.
5th June
The team were called out at 11.00am on Wednesday by Devon & Cornwall Police to search for a missing person near Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.
Search teams were tasked, alongside members from Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team - Tavistock and a search dog from Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England, to search the wooded and open areas in the nearby nature reserve, while the police helicopter operated overhead.
Very sadly, the team found his body a few hours later at 14:55.
Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this difficult time.
29th March
We were called out by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust at 1300 to help a female in need of assistance on steep tracks near Shaugh Bridge.
She had been assessed by SWAST for medical assistance and required our help to stretcher her back to Shaugh Bridge car park.
We were stood down a couple of hours later, having safely transferred her to the waiting ambulance.
28th March
We were called at 10:30 to assist our sister team Dartmoor Search and Rescue Tavistock with a search for a high-risk missing person in the Brentor/Mary Tavy area.
They had been out since late Wednesday 27th in very difficult conditions such as heavy snowfall, rain, hail compounded by slippery mud and poor visibility.
The treacherous conditions continued with Plymouth’s search of varying areas around Lydford Gorge and Viaduct, and Brentor.
It was determined around 17:30 that the missing person was confirmed to have left the search area, and we were stood down shortly thereafter.
24th March
A busy Sunday for the team with a second callout from Devon & Cornwall Police at 2100 hrs, to look for a High Risk missing person from Beatland Cross, near Lee Moor with our sister team Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team - Ashburton.
On arrival, we were advised that the missing person had been located safe and well and we were stood down.
24th March
At 1530 hours, along with our colleagues from East Cornwall Search & Rescue Team, we attended Saltash in Cornwall, to assist Devon & Cornwall Police to look for a High Risk missing person.
On arrival at the rendezvous point, three search teams were allocated their respective search areas and deployed soon after.
We are pleased to report that the missing person was found safe and well, within the Saltash area, and we were stood down at 1800 hrs.
16th March
A call came in at 23.50 for a team of 4 males training for Ten Tors. The alarm was raised when they hadn’t arrived at their scheduled camp stop for the evening.
Starting from Two Bridges, the search teams spent 8 hours searching across 24 sq.km of moorland in atrocious conditions over the group’s planned route. Heavy rain, mist and flooded paths made searching difficult.
The teams re-traced possible routes the group may have used to traverse the moor as well as dealing with alternative routes across rivers which were very high.
At around 7am, the team were found soon after they resumed their walk, having found a sheltered spot to camp, a good distance from their planned river crossing point.
The team were well equipped and did exactly the right thing. They had to go off route and their mobile phones didn’t have reception, so they camped and waited until the morning.
A very good outcome for all!
23rd February
As the events in Keyham developed overnight, the Police and Bomb Disposal experts determined the safest course of action was to remove the bomb and dispose of it at sea. As this would involve displacing residents along the intended route of the bomb, we were tasked with visiting more properties and ensuring all residents could leave.
These 2 days were a world away from Dartmoor, but an amazing experience to be part of a huge multi-agency operation to ensure the safety and security of Keyham, Ford and Devonport residents.
22nd February
The team were deployed from 7am, tasked with assisting the Police and other emergency services (Fire & Coastguard) with a mass evacuation in Keyham, Plymouth, where a large unexploded WWII bomb was discovered a few days prior.
The team was tasked with speaking to resident in the exclusion zone to encourage any remaining to leave, and to gather numbers of those staying.
We stood down at 3.30pm as the Police and Bomb Disposal continued their work on making the device safe.
14th February
The team were called out at 15.45 to the Dewerstone to assist South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) Paramedics with the extraction of a fallen climber from the upper buttresses of the Dewerstone.
In horrendous weather conditions, 18 members of the team attended alongside a rope rescue team from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service Camels Head Fire Station.
Due to the casualty location, the terrain and the weather, the extraction required a significant descent by the rope teams before team members and the other agencies could safely get the casualty to the waiting ambulance.
Despite their injuries, the casualty remained in good spirits throughout the protracted rescue. We wish the casualty a swift recovery.
