Mountain Rescue England and Wales

There are now nine regional mountain rescue organisations, all of which belong to the national body, Mountain Rescue England and Wales.

June 2010 has seen the inauguration of a new region – the Peninsula Mountain and Cave Rescue Association (PenMaCRA) – comprising eight mountain and cave rescue teams in the southern-most tip of the south west of England.

Although teams are independent and autonomous, they frequently work together on incidents which cross their patch 'boundaries'. Some regions also have an operational role in that they appoint regional rescue co-ordinators who make operational decisions and use whichever teams and other assets they think appropriate to a rescue.

The regional role is to co-ordinate training amogst its member teams and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and working practices. They also act as a link to Mountain Rescue England and Wales. With our new Constitution, it is proposed that teams will also be represented directly at national meetings and thus have a direct involvement in the decision making process.

ALSAR – comprising a number of lowland search and rescue teams – is an affiliated association but does not have voting powers at the national meetings.