For mountain rescue volunteers, unprepared tourists and the false comfort of mobile phones make for a busy summer, writes Rosita Boland
Tourists who frequently underestimated the challenges of the mercurial conditions on the Wicklow mountains were one of the reasons July was the busiest month on record for the voluntary Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue Team (GIMRT).
"The good weather means that there are a lot more people on the hills," says Ronan Mullen, a volunteer with GIMRT for 10 years. "There are lots of tourists from mainland Europe who've seen the Alps but don't think that Ireland has any mountains. And there are still lots of Irish people who don't go out with the right equipment: people setting out in jeans and trainers carrying lunch in a plastic bag, thinking they'll be okay."
The GIMRT, which is one of 12 such voluntary rescue teams in Ireland, had 13 call-outs in July. This compares to 50 call-outs for the whole of 2005.
Ann Fitzpatrick is the current team leader of the 35-member GIMRT, and is also the first woman to hold the post. She's responsible for co-ordinating the rest of the team, at least 15 of whom are out together on any individual call. The initial 999 call is diverted on to them by the local guards, whom they liaise with on an ongoing basis.
"The balance of the call-outs we would have would be about 60/40 between those people who don't take proper care before they set out - checking the weather, being dressed properly, planning a route - and those who are properly equipped, but who suffer some injury accidentally," she says.
The fact that many people now carry a mobile phone as a matter of course has had both positive and negative effects on the rescue process.
"People are too reliant on them," Mullen says. "It's false security: they think they'll push themselves a bit further as a result. But coverage in the Wicklow mountains is very patchy. And batteries go down a lot faster in cold damp conditions. If you do have a phone, carry it with you, but switch it off unless you're using it and keep it close to your body so it stays warm."
"Mobiles can be useful to track people down," Fitzpatrick admits. "It's people's attitude to them, rather than the phones themselves, that is the problem, because they get too over-reliant on them. We've noticed people carrying hand-held GPS now too, as they become cheaper, but unless you know how to use them, they're useless. The fact is you can't beat a map and compass to tell you where you are, but most people these days don't know how to use them properly."
Before volunteering for the team, Mullen had been working as a mountaineering instructor for a number of years.
"A lot of us get a lot of enjoyment and employment out of the mountains, but there is an impact on the environment every time we go out on them," he says. "Volunteering for the rescue team was a way of giving something back."
To be accepted as a mountain rescue volunteer, you must first have excellent personal competency in the hills and have basic first aid skills: Fitzpatrick's own day-job is as a wildlife ranger in the Wicklow mountains national park. Volunteers who are accepted are then trained in rescue skills, including working with helicopters and the coastguard unit. "The question really isn't 'What made you join?' " Fitzpatrick says. "It's 'What keeps you there?' "
Robert Power has been with the GIMRT for 15 years.
"There are a lot more call-outs now than there used to be. Glendalough is definitely the busiest spot for call-outs, followed by Glenmalure," he says.
His own toughest rescue was at Glenmalure eight years ago, when a man had fallen and sustained a serious head injury. "We were lucky the team doctor was with us when that call came in." The victim was given IV fluid at the scene, which saved his life. Although he spent 12 weeks in a coma, he did recover successfully.
The team's oddest, and only light-hearted, rescue came about by chance. They happened to be in the area after a successfully completed call-out when the owner of a dog stuck on a crag asked them to help rescue the pet. "We don't rescue animals," Fitzpatrick stresses, "but since we were already there, we said to the owner we would go up to him, which we did but we couldn't get him to come near us for ages. We had his owner shouting down our radio to him so that he'd trust us and come over. He eventually did."
All the volunteers agree that there are pros and cons in being part of a voluntary organisation. Funding is the biggest challenge. Their biggest grant-aided funding comes from the Department of the Marine, and is currently €21,854: a sum which has to be topped up from other sources, including shaking buckets at the public two bank holiday weekends a year.
"You're not only out on your own time when you're on call, but you have to give up time to fundraise too, and put your own money into some of the equipment you need," Mullen explains.
They all also agree that egos can surface in a voluntary organisation. "Egos are always going to exist in any kind of voluntary organisation. You just need to keep it in control," Fitzpatrick admits. "But at the same time, the camaraderie we have is special. You're working with people in situations where lives literally depend on your teamwork. You don't easily walk away from friendships made like that."
www.wicklowmountainrescue.ie