Wasdale team members prepare to stretcher an injured casualty in upper Eskdale. Photo: Wasdale MRT

Volunteer rescuers in the Lake District are urging hillgoers to plan ahead to cut the number of what they term ‘avoidable’ incidents.

More than a fifth of callouts covered by the 12 teams of the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association are to people lost, missing or overdue.

These could be prevented by would-be adventurers asking themselves three questions before they head out for the mountains:

• Am I confident I have the knowledge and skills for the day?
• Do I know what the weather will be like?
• Do I have the right gear?

Richard Warren, spokesperson for the association, the umbrella organisation for the 12 Cumbrian teams, said avoidable rescues, preventable by good preparation and planning, are the ones that the teams are trying to reduce as they can seriously compromise the traumas and medical emergencies through unnecessarily diverting teams’ resources.

“Scafell Pike is a particular problem for Cumbria due to it being the highest mountain in England and on a par with Snowdon in north Wales and Ben Nevis in Scotland for attracting large numbers of walkers.

“This is one of the Lake District’s bucket-list mountains and accounts for around 60 per cent of Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team’s callouts. Of these, 60 per cent are lost and missing ‘avoidables’, hence the need to ask yourself three #BeAdventureSmart questions when planning adventurous activities.”

The plea to plan ahead was issued as the area’s teams anticipate an increased number of visitors with the start of the summer holidays.

Mr Warren said: “July and August are always the busiest months for mountain incidents and last weekend saw a total of 14 calls taken by the teams across Cumbria.

“As of the 23 July 2024 there have been 418 actual 999 emergency calls coming through the police and ambulance service and tasked to the 12 volunteer rescue teams compared to 401 at the same time last year.”

He added that 2023 was also the teams’ busiest year with 714 emergency calls for help by the end of December 2023. Of this year’s callouts, injuries to the head, lower leg and ankle account for 38 per cent of the total, with a tenth being to medical emergencies such as hypothermia, dizziness or heart attacks and cardiac arrest. Avoidable incidents due to lost and missing persons made up 21 per cent of the total.

Mr Warren said 2024 will also be a challenging year for LDSAMRA, supporting the teams with additional funding for capital expenditure as teams are in the process of upgrading rescue bases and equipment to accommodate the increases in callouts. “Over the next two years an additional £3m will need to be raised through fundraising, so in addition to getting the safety messaging across there is a plea for funding support.”

LDSAMRA team members have so far this year been deployed for more than 22,000 hours. Wasdale MRT, one of the teams that covers Scafell Pike, is already on 92 callouts with more than 5,800 team member hours.