Spotlight on the mountain rescue heroes who have saved many a life in Wigan

It may be called Bolton Mountain Rescue Team, but its doubty volunteers who have been coming to stricken people’s aid for more than half a century now, are regularly deployed in this borough and several of its members live in the area too.

They are on stand-by 24 hours of the day, 365 days of the year and are trained to operate in all manner of conditions.

For Chris Lomas, an Up Holland dad of three and head of web and digital services at Edge Hill University, his near five-year membership of the team is a calling.

The 43-year-old, who also chairs BMRT’s board of trustees, said: “I’ve always loved the outdoors, I used to be a scout, have always volunteered as an adult and I like to have hobbies that are worthwhile.

"I do swimming and golf which are just for me but Bolton Mountain Rescue is a great way of spending my free time and giving back to society.”

Rivington Pike is about as near to a mountain as we have in these parts so clearly the definition of their work is a lot broader than the name implies.

"Because we are in the foothills of the Pennines this is an upland rather than a lowland area, hence the mountain rescue name. But yes, it’s certainly not all about climbing steep hills. We have water and rope specialists for instance and we can be called upon to help people get out of awkward places that paramedics can’t reach.

"In the summer a young man had fallen from a rope swing in some woods in Orrell and suffered a chest injury. The place where he ended up was difficult to access because of trees and branches in the way.

"The paramedics couldn’t get him out to the air ambulance and so we were called and got him out on a stretcher.”

Living locally, Chris was one of the first on the scene, going directly to the woods under his own steam rather than heading to Bolton to get in the team rescue vehicle with colleagues which would have been the case if the emergency was elsewhere.

The reason there are so many members is because they know that only a proportion will be available for a call-out at any one time – especially during the day. There is usually much less of an issue if a message goes out at 3am, with some volunteers taking their work clothes so that once the emergency is over, they can go straight to the office.

Other Wigan call-outs in recent months included stretchering a walker half a mile to an ambulance after he broke his leg in deep mud; similarly rescuing a woman with a leg injury from a location in Borsdane Woods that paramedics could not reach; and an elderly man who had suffered a medical episode in a part of Mesnes Park which again the wheeled ambulance stretchers couldn’t access.

Part of BMRT’s work involves looking for missing people and, sadly and inevitably. there are occasions when they are discovering and recovering bodies, as was the case in the search for a missing man at Scotman’s Flash in May.

Chris said: "There are bound to be very sad parts of the job, thankfully not often. But even in those circumstances you are helping and you hope that loved ones of missing or deceased people would want you to find and recover them.”

BMR operational members train very regularly and in all weather conditions. Much of it is in the dark in winter but, as Chris says, that’s only right because a lot of the actual rescues take place in the dark and if they can get used to such conditions, it gives them an edge.

They have also trained with lowland teams and make an annual trip to Scotland to make sure they get some practice carrying out rescues in the snow too.

So how do you get into a mountain rescue team?

Chris said: “I saw a recruitment advert on Facebook. It was just after the Winter Hill fires and so the team was pretty high profile at the time and so I applied.

"I was invited to a selection weekend during which I took part in navigation and team-building exercises and a bit of theory.

"You have to be 18 or over and you have a physical assessment. There’s no upper age limit so I guess if you’re still fit at 80 you could be in!

"You are asked if you are first aid qualified but while handy if you are, it’s not obligatory because everyone is put through a course during onboarding.”

Volunteers are expected to provide their own basic kit, but BMRT provides the specialist gear including incredibly weatherproof jackets (£600 a piece), helmets and goggles. They are also trained to use the Ordnance Survey app but also the old fashioned map and compass too as backup.

There is a big difference between the number of call-outs some members accept to others, ranging from a dozen to 50 or 60. It often depends on work arrangements, with some volunteers finding it harder to get away than others.

BMR isn’t actually recruiting for operational members at the moment but it does want to boost its support team who play such an important role in the organisation.

They are the people who go to supermarkets, village fetes and so on to raise the team’s profile and funds (£50,000 is required a year to keep it going). They are also used as mock casualties in training exercises.

Anyone interested should email [email protected].

Chris said: “Being a member of Bolton Mountain Rescue is a hugely fulfilling part of my life and I am proud to be in a team which can help people at particularly difficult times for them.”