CRO were contacted by Cumbria Police (CUMPOL) regarding an overdue caving party who had been on a caving trip in Pippikin Pot on Leck Fell. As the CRO Duty Controller (DC) were making initial enquiries before mobilising any team members, they were contacted by CUMPOL and advised that happily, the caving party were safely on the surface and had been in contact as soon as they were in mobile phone reception. With no further action required, the incident was closed as an ‘Alert Only’ – the best possible outcome we could have hoped for.
Note – cavers use a ‘callout’ system where they will provide a point of contact with details of their intended trip and cut off/callout time. If the point of contact doesn’t hear from the caving party by that time, they will then typically contact the police who will then contact the relevant rescue team. Information such as the number in the party, the intended trip, and even car registration and where it is parked is absolutely invaluable to the rescue teams in the early stages of a potential team callout. As is, that follow up call stating that the party have been in touch and are now safely back on the surface. As always, we are grateful for the reporting party for making the initial callout, and then to the caving party for advising that they were safe and our services were no longer required.
Volunteer hours: 0.75