Initial Formation

As can be seen, the team was founded in 1971 by local people with the assistance of Clackmannanshire Council, the Police, Fire Service and local Ambulance service. The original members of the committee were representatives of all these agencies along with local people.

Through time the Team began training in rescue techniques, search procedures, radio communications and first aid skills. They became more organised with call out procedures being adopted within a structured "Team" of volunteers.

The Ochils MRT became affiliated to the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland (MRC of S) in 1972. The MRC of S is the body that represents all agencies involved in Mountain Rescue, including representation from ACPO(S), Scottish Ambulance Service, Royal Air Force SAR, Royal Navy SAR, HM Coastguards, Mountaineering groups as well as 24 civilian Rescue Teams and 2 RAF MR Teams. The Team continues to be involved and makes representation at the MRC of S business meetings.

Today's Formation

From experience and constant re-assessment the Team continues to update and renew its administration set-up. It also regularly reconsiders its membership and training requirements.

At present the Team has 40 members consisting of 9 committee members of team leader status, 2 Doctors and 29 members. It has been agreed by the committee and Team that the maximum we will have on the role of members will be 40.

Mobilisation

Due to the members all being volunteers and from all walks of life, mobilisation can be difficult. The Team has over the years improved "Call Out" procedures. Initially the Team are contacted by the police who are provided with up to date contact names. The member or Team Leader contacted by the police is the Leader in charge on the incident, he then contacts the members and calls them out. This has been done by using the telephone and could take anything up to 45 minutes

The introduction of pagers on the Central Scotland Pager Network improved contact and call out times considerably. This was superseded in December 2005 with the use of Vodafone SMS Text alerts. The police having access to the SMS Text network from their Force Control Room at Randolphfield.

Average call out times for a full team call out can vary from 5 minutes to 15 minutes, depending on the distance members have to travel to the Mountain Rescue Post. But the facility to contact a few members who are more available than others does exist, and therefore a quicker call out and attendance time can be organised. Response times are being improved by constant education and training of members.