page_title: Mountain rescue
section_title: United Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Mountain rescue / By country / United Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: English: Stretcher Box at Styhead Positioned so that Mountain Rescue Teams don't have to carry a stretcher all the way up here. There is also a similar box positioned a couple of miles away at the top of the Mickledore col.
context_page_description: Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with technical rope access issues, snow, avalanches, ice, crevasses, glaciers, alpine environments and high altitudes. The difficult and remote nature of the terrain in which mountain rescue often occurs has resulted in the development of a number of specific pieces of equipment and techniques. Helicopters are often used to quickly extract casualties, and search dogs may be deployed to find a casualty.
  Mountain rescue services may be paid professionals or volunteer professionals. Paid rescue services are more likely to exist in places with a high demand such as the Alps, national parks with mountain terrain and many ski resorts. However, the labor-intensive and occasional nature of mountain rescue, along with the specific techniques and local knowledge required for some environments, means that mountain rescue is often undertaken by voluntary teams. These are frequently made up of local climbers and guides.
context_section_description: In the United Kingdom, mountain rescue is mostly a free service, provided by volunteers. Each team is an independent charity, and are linked together by regional organizations and national bodies. In England and Wales this is Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW) and in Scotland, Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland, now known as Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR). Prince William is the patron of MREW. Mountain rescue services are also provided by the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS).
caption: Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it.
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