Incident report

Just as darkness was falling an adult couple with two children made a 999 call to police to report themselves lost on Kinder.  The Duty Incident Controller called the party back but lost mobile phone connection before any useful clues as to the family’s whereabouts could be gained.  Repeated calls failed to connect so a major search of Kinder Scout was instigated.

Kinder and Glossop MRTs were tasked to cover the North and West of the moor whilst Buxton and Edale Teams started their familiar search pattern of the South and East of the plateau.   Two mountain rescue search dogs were also summoned.   The weather had been deteriorating during the evening and, by the time the search was under way, visibility was under 20 metres and winds were gusting up to 30 miles per hour.  Both police and RAF helicopters were requested but each had to decline owing to the conditions.

By 03.00 on the Monday morning no trace of the family had been found on the moor and concerns were growing for the welfare of the young children.   Team members too were tiring quickly due to the weather and boggy ground conditions so a fifth mountain rescue team from Derby was called in.   As Derby MRT was assembling at Edale, a Glossop Mountain Rescue Search Dog located the party on the northern edge of Kinder Scout.

Derby MRT was diverted around to the Snake road to start climbing the moor with rescue equipment.  However, the family had no physical injuries and were quickly fed energy food.  They were then able to walk from the moor escorted by MR team members.

A hard night’s work for the eighty-plus Peak District mountain rescue teams’ members but a most satisfying result.  The value of the dedicated training done by the Search And Rescue Dog Association handlers was again proved beyond doubt.