Today 6 swiftwater rescue technician trained members from the Inverness team were involved in delivering the first ever CG Level 1 flood response training course. The training session was part of major training weekend this weekend for fellow coastguard rescue officer’s from all corners of Northern Scotland, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. There are over 100 coastguards attending the weekend, however there are still some coastguard left around the coastline of Northern Scotland this weekend though!
In the morning the brave (or should it read silly?) team suffered repeated dunkings in the freezing waters of the River Connon in order to give their colleagues ample practice to hone their throwbag skills. One team member had forgot his fleecy polar bear suit (which is worn under the drysuit to keep warm) and was particularly cold!
The afternoon consisted of a major incident simulation which was a crashed aircraft carrying 50 coastguards, funnily enough right beside where the flood rescue training had been carried out. The remaining 50 coastguards had to organise a proper command and control system, carry out a grid search, triage the casualties and provide initial first aid. Despite the bitingly cold winds all ‘casualties’ were found after a protracted search and every one headed back to the warmth of the Highland Hotel in Strathpeffer for a cup of coffee and a de-brief.
