Trade unionism rearing its head?

SIR, – I have read with interest the letter by my friend and fellow ex-team leader, Alistair McCook, (Press and Journal, November 9) and beg to express my complete disagreement with his views.

Why did we join mountain rescue?

Was it not because we were young and strong, proud of our stamina, and looked forward to testing situations, especially if there was an occasional whiff of danger, because of course we knew that we personally were indestructible?

Did not the thought of providing a service resulting in public goodwill and acclaim play some part?

Of course some rescues (or body recoveries) can be hard, and occasionally extremely unpleasant, while sometimes there is also danger, which is usually unexpected and immediate, as when a boulder weighing an estimated ton suddenly broke free from a hillside above us while we were about to place a casualty with a suspected broken neck on the stretcher.

There was no time to run, and we all cowered, the only brave person there being the team doctor, who steadfastly held on to his patient’s head lest a sudden movement should sever his spinal cord.

By the grace of God, the boulder bounced right over our heads, landing on the stretcher five feet away, completely demolishing it.

We then had to send back to base for a replacement stretcher.

I suppose the casualty must have recovered: We never heard of him again. But it was a good excuse for a hooley.

Now some teams have formed a consortium, and are demanding to be flown off the hill after a rescue. Why? Are they too tired to walk? There is a sulphurous whiff of incipient trade unionism there that bodes ill both for the ethos of mountain rescue.

What next – A retaining fee? Unsocial hours compensation? Ration allowance? Danger money? An eight hour limit on rescues?

I am very proud that my old team does not seem to be part of iSMR. increased attendance throughout the week.

There were too many highlights to mention, we are delighted to have the front page about the Embrace Diversity Parade, the superb coverage on Bike Fest and your many positive headlines and articles about our achievements’ and the overall success of the week.

As a result of Inspiration Week we are hoping to take forward lots of new young people’s projects, like self-esteem working with the secondary schools.

We are so inspired by Mark Dry we hope to do some fundraising for him, another Bike Fest, and one of our ambassadors is going to South Africa to improve student’s education. We look forward to working with you in the future!