Buxton Mountain Rescue

The mountain rescue service is provided by a highly committed volunteer team. Buxton Mountain Rescue is one of seven teams which cover the Peak District National Park and operates from two bases, one in Dove Holes and one in Buxton. The team currently has fifty-one operational members, trainees and a committed support team. The team is operational twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and relies entirely on donations and grants.

Callouts can be varied, anything from searching for missing walkers on Kinder Scout, fallen climbers on the local crags, water rescues and working under the guidance of the Police to locate vulnerable missing people. Other call-outs include assisting the local ambulance service, responding to major incidents such as Storm Desmond and in 2019 the Whalley Bridge Dam Incident, where the team working alongside the Police, Fire and Rescue and local community groups.

Buxton Mountain Rescue is a registered charity and dependent on donations from the public. It costs over £48,000 per annum to keep the team operational and average over 100-callouts per year in all weathers and at any time or night of the day.

In March this year, the team were called to Combs Moss to assist a walker who had injured themselves while climbing over a wall. The casualty was assessed by paramedics, placed in a vacuum mattress to keep them stable and under a box tent to help keep them warm. Due to the location, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance was requested, and the casualty was airlifted to hospital.