The Mayo Mountain Rescue Team has announced that the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, will launch the team's new mobile incident command vehicle tomorrow, Saturday January 27, at 2.30pm at the MMRT Headquarters, Pinewoods, Westport.
Colm Byrne, chairperson of Mayo Mountain Rescue Team, said: "The recent upsurge in adventure tourism along the Wild Atlantic Way has greatly increased demands on the rescue services. The Mayo Mountain Rescue Team is one of the busiest teams in Ireland with over 50 callouts per year. All incidents, whether search, rescue, or recovery, involve complex multi-agency and often multi-team operations. Our highly trained dedicated team relies heavily on a mobile command unit to coordinate and manage these operations and communications. This new vehicle, which is built to the highest standards to make it fit for purpose with advanced technology and specifications, will meet this need."
Robert Hunt, team leader Mayo MRT, noted that the new incident command vehicle provided the team with the facility to safely deploy, manage, and track Mountain Rescue team members on the hill while responding to an incident. "It will carry all our life saving, first-response, communication, and technical equipment, and up to six team members. We are very grateful for the provision of funding for this vehicle, and it emphasises a strong commitment to the volunteer services of mountain rescue in Ireland. This valuable asset will serve Mountain Rescue in Mayo for many years to come."
The majority of funding to buy this vehicle came through the Emergency First Response measure of the CLÁR programme approved by Minister Ring in May 2017 to support voluntary first-response organisations in rural areas. MMRT was allocated a €50,000 grant via the CLÁR scheme which is funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
