Pamplona (EFE).- Members of the Greim de Aragón, Catalunya and Navarra have honed their skills during this week in different parts of the Autonomous Community in complex situations of rescuing people in mountain areas that generally require the intervention of a helicopter, which adds a plus of difficulty to the operation.
The practices have taken place from June 5 to 9 in the Chapitel de Varcarlos ravine (extraction of injured people in ravine areas with a stretcher); in the climbing area of Carrascal (coordinated extraction with helicopter); on the Irañeta crest (safe accompaniment of rescued people in rugged areas); in the Sima Pagomari of the Sierra de Aralar (complex speleosorro); and in the Liédena climbing wall (self-help).
These exercises, explained to EFE Lieutenant Baín Gutiérrez Vara, head of the Jaca Mountain Area, which includes the Greim of Aragón and Navarra, have formed part of the second shift of the specific training plan in the summer period, in which they have participated half of the troops, since the other half, who did the same practices from May 22 to 26, remain on duty at their respective bases.
Nine Greim units from the Jaca area, which groups Aragon and Navarra, and from the Viella area (Lleida) have participated in the deployment. Counting the toilets, there are about 45 people in total who have taken part in the exercises.
Instructional Plan Objectives
The main objectives, Gutiérrez pointed out, are to disseminate techniques and knowledge among mountain specialists in these areas, unify action criteria and improve coordination in resolving complex rescues in which a considerable number of specialists need to intervene.
“And, of course,” he stressed, “improve motivation, willingness to serve, establish those links, those ties between us so that, when there are complex rescues, in which more than one unit has to intervene, they are well greased the procedures”.
It is also intended that the members of the Greim know well the areas where rescues are usually carried out, such as the Carrascal or the Sierra de Aralar in the case of Navarra.
The helicopter, a valuable but dangerous tool
In complicated rescues, the helicopter is a great help. As Gutiérrez has indicated, “it is a tool that we use like any other, like an ice ax or a car. It is true that a helicopter rescue minimizes the waiting and execution time of the rescue a lot, but the helicopter is not always present, due to bad weather or because it is night”.
Helicopter operations, he said, “are extremely complex and dangerous” and for this reason “you have to practice them a lot”, with exercises like the ones being carried out this week in Navarra.
In this sense, he has highlighted that “approaching a helicopter to the rock walls, as we do, is dangerous. In the end, the rotor blades are very close to the wall and a little bit of air, a loss of height, can have quite serious consequences.”
Recommendations to avoid mountain rescue, a problem that is increasing
Mountain rescues are increasing every year, underlined Gutiérrez, who commented that “there are more and more visitors, more mountaineering visitors and more visitors who are not mountaineering, who are mountain tourists who venture into an area for which perhaps they do not carry the appropriate material or do not know where they have gone”.
For this reason, when going out into the mountains it is important to take into account a series of recommendations, which Gutiérrez has summarized in four points:
- Pre-planning of the activity. It is necessary to be correctly informed about the route, the itinerary and the physical and technical capacity that it entails. It is important to know if there is going to be snow or ice on the route, something very common in the Pyrenees, where there is perpetual snow or fossil ice at some points. In addition, Gutiérrez has declared, “meteorological information is extremely important”, since in the mountains the weather changes abruptly in spring and summer. “Suddenly it is very cold and suddenly very hot or it even snows. You have to be careful with the ravines, the floods of water ”, he warned.
You also have to be very careful in extreme heat. If there are high temperatures, he has affirmed, “you have to start the activities before, not walk through very sunny areas. At noon we should have finished the activity, and we must try to wear a cap, cover ourselves, sunglasses, sun cream…”
It is also essential to carry warm clothing, food and plenty of water in your backpack, as well as an advanced GPS positioning system, since “many times the GPS of mobile phones are not as accurate as we would like them to be”, he indicated. - Never go alone to the mountains. The minimum group must be three people. If there is an accident, one of them stays with the injured and the third, if contact with the emergency services cannot be established, must go for help.
If you go alone, although it is not recommended, you must inform someone of the itinerary that you are going to do and, above all, set a deadline for the return so that the “alarm” goes off, but with a margin, so as not to activate rescue devices without need. - Do not overestimate our chances. The Civil Guard lieutenant has highlighted in this sense that “you have to know how to resign. The mountain will always be there. Turning around is not a defeat, it is a victory. There are times when the mountain is not in condition, even we ourselves are not in condition, and then we turn around and retrace the path so richly”.
In addition, he pointed out, it must be taken into account that “the activity does not end at the top or when we get to the car, to an inhabited area, it ends at home”, because, after a journey, “generally we get in the car and do long trips being tired”, with the consequent risk of an accident. - In the event of a problem, call an emergency telephone number as soon as possible, in this case 062 of the Civil Guard or 112 managed by the autonomous communities.