Background
The UK Mountain Rescue (MR) service, run entirely by volunteers, provides first response care for casualties and transports them to professional medical care. In the past decade the number of call-outs has increased, while national trends show a decline in volunteering. This decrease in volunteers could leave the MR service struggling to meet future demands.
Objective
This paper examines reasons for the increase in the number of MR call-outs, rescue team methods for meeting the increased demand, and implications for volunteer management.
Methods
An online survey was completed by 134 current members of UK MR teams; 383 outdoor enthusiasts who were potential MR volunteers completed an additional survey. Both surveys explored perceptions of the MR service and issues regarding workforce planning.
Results
More than one third (36%) of MR volunteers believed that the major cause of increased workload was supporting the statutory emergency services in nonmountain incidents. However, the majority of potential volunteers (65%) believed that the major cause was increased participation in outdoor activities, and only 6% identified emergency service work as a cause. Current and potential MR volunteers were primarily motivated by the desire to assist fellow mountaineers and to help others in mountainous environments. In the future, recruitment might be improved by specific role descriptions, such as identifying less physically demanding support roles.
Conclusions
The motivation of both current and potential MR volunteers is becoming increasingly incongruous with an increase in call-outs to assist emergency service support work in nonmountainous environments. That could lead to problems in both retention and recruitment. Specialized roles within the MR may address this issue to a degree, but increased use of volunteers to support public services may not be tenable. Further implications of this issue require further research.