By Rachael Grealish

A Mountain Rescue stretcher box has been ransacked as the number of call-outs for the team continues to ‘surge’.

Over the recent Bank Holiday weekend, May 26 to 29, a stretcher box at Mickledore, between Scafell and Scafell Pike, was ransacked leaving kit missing and some left out.

The contents that were strewn around the fell were left open to the elements along with a used disposable BBQ and various items of food waste and rubbish.

Wasdale Mountain Rescue volunteers have already been up to sort out the mess left behind and ensure that the rescue kit is in working order. A stretcher box contains items Mountain Rescue teams may use to help people during call-outs to the fells.

At the same time, the team have added some simple signage to the stretcher box to help point hikers in the right direction in bad weather, and hopefully reduce call-outs from lost walkers.

Penny Kirby, one of the Team Leaders of the local Rescue team, warned of the dangers it poses for the team to be heading out to repair the box and refill it as she explained call-outs have ‘surged’ this year.

“We have seen a surge of callouts this year since Easter,” Penny said. “May has been especially busy, perhaps due to a combination of three Bank holidays, people holidaying more at home due to the costs of overseas holidays and the rising cost of living in general.

“The last thing our team of volunteers really want to be doing is repairing rescue kit and cleaning up disposable BBQ rubbish. We are very concerned about the impact so many callouts are having on our team members, their families, and their work.”

Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team have already had 70 callouts this year, 27 of them in May. This compares to 42 callouts by the end of May 2022 and only five in the month of May itself. In 2021, the team dealt with 19 callouts up until the end of May,
and five in May.

Team Leaders are also pointing out that the busy summer season is not upon us yet, as Penny continues: “We made a decision recently, in consultation with the Lake District National Park Authority and the National Trust, to add some signage to the Mickledore Stretcher box to try and help lost walkers find their way safely down the fells and reduce callout numbers.

“Roughly 60% of our callouts in the Wasdale Team are on Scafell Pike and in recent years around 60% of those are for lost or missing walkers. Anything we can do to help them self-rescue and reduce the number of times we are called out is worth a try.”