Summer may bring favourable conditions for mountaineering, but the higher numbers of people attracted to the hills will mean the season could be a busy time for mountain rescue helicopters. That means they need basket stretchers to evacuate badly injured people.

The importance of mountain rescue has been very apparent in recent years, with the number of call-outs soaring. However, the nature of incidents has varied markedly.

Data from Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW) has revealed that between 2019 and 2024, the number of call-outs to the service rose by 24 per cent.

Notable features of these findings included:

• ·       For the first time, the 18-24 age group featured most in rescues
• ·       There were 3,842 rescues in 2024
• ·       78 per cent occurred after midnight
• ·       23 per cent involved a slip or trip

MREW and the British Mountaineering Council attributed the increase to the popularisation of many upland locations through social media and the increased use of mountaineering apps, which are not always reliable or detailed enough for remote mountain areas.

How Many Mountain Rescue Callouts Involve People Who Are Badly Injured?

This factor, plus details like the high proportion of call-outs made late at night, highlight the fact that the majority of rescues are of people who have got lost. In these cases, a helicopter is unlikely to be needed as, once located, lost people can walk off the mountain unharmed.

However, there will still be cases when call-outs are made for genuinely serious incidents. The 23 per cent of cases made up by slips and trips will include many where an individual is badly injured and unable to walk off.

This is the kind of situation in which equipment like a helicopter rescue basket stretcher is more likely to be needed. These will be situations in which:

·   Rescuers cannot swiftly get to the injured party or get them down quickly

·   The severity of the injury is such that fast evacuation is warranted

·   There are further dangers for the injured person, such as hypothermia in cold weather

What Makes Basket Stretchers Ideal For Helicopter Mountain Rescues?

Key features of basket stretchers that make them ideal for mountain rescue include:

• Adjustable foot anchors, to ensure the patient is kept stable whatever the terrain
• Built-in safety belts and buckles, enabling the patient to be immobilised and evacuated swiftly
• It is detachable and stackable, so it takes up little room inside the helicopter
• The built-in sling will connect to aircraft hooks, enabling rescues at high angles to be made swiftly and efficiently
• The stretcher will be durable, ensuring it can be used many times and that it does not break in critical situations
• For all that many mountain rescue call-outs are from lost people attracted to unfamiliar mountains by social media and those who lack navigation skills and equipment, there are many genuine emergencies when an injured person needs extra help to get to safety.

Mountain rescue helicopter services have been expanded for such incidents, with the new base set up in Carlisle for this year to cover Cumbria and the Scottish borders, being a case in point.

With the right stretchers to hand, Mountain Rescue helicopters will be well-equipped to get badly injured explorers safely off the mountain and to a hospital.