The most common incidents tend to be from falls on mud or ice resulting in lower leg fractures, wrist fractures and back injuries. The more serious injuries have been neck and pelvis fractures from falls off mountain bikes and horses. We spend time looking for walkers who have become disorientated in poor weather conditions and looking for vulnerable people including those suffering with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Sadly, sometimes we are called open to recover the bodies of people who have died.

In addition to our traditional mountain rescue activities we have been increasingly asked to respond to water and flood rescue incidents in our area and further afield. The team spent three days helping with the 2015 floods in York where we rescued over one hundred people and animals during the first night as the water levels rose. More recently we have supported local residents cope with tidal surges on the North Yorkshire coast, have assisted the Police to recover bodies from local rivers and we are always on standby to assist with local and regional flooding events. In 2020 we were on standby to assist with flooding due to Storm Dennis in February and earlier that month we assisted with flooding outside of our area in Pateley Bridge.

Between 2012 and 2020 we responded to 515 call-outs where our specialist skills and equipment were needed to help local people and visitors. In recent years we tend to average 65 call-outs per year.

We also deal with a number of other incidents where our knowledge and expertise are used to help the Police but where it is unnecessary to deploy Team members.