Mountain rescue teams had most call-outs on record in 2022, report shows

Civilian mountain rescue teams responded to the highest number of call-outs on record last year, figure show.

Scottish Mountain Rescue’s (SMR) statistics report for 2022 shows they responded to 709 call-outs, up from 698 in 2021.

The report is compiled from information received from the 25 civilian and three Police Scotland teams that are members of SMR.

Last year teams across the country attended 636 independent incidents, and volunteers gave nearly 30,000 hours to attend call-outs alone.

Over the year, 740 people were assisted, with three incidents involving the rescue of dogs and two in which sheep were rescued.

Rescue teams recorded 21 fatalities, 11 of which occurred in mountaineering incidents.

Most incidents the teams were called out to (140) took place during fine weather, and Saturdays and Sundays tended to be their busiest days for rescues.

Teams responded to 81 reports of missing people over the year, and in 7% of incidents they worked with partner agencies. Twenty-six incidents required a response longer than one day.

Out of 90 incidents in which a person was injured, 45% involved a fracture or sprain.

A total of 202 men were rescued by SMR teams, as were 134 women.

SMR chairman Bill Glennie said: “We are pleased to produce our statistics review 2022. It has been another extremely busy year for our volunteer mountain rescue teams.

“This illustrates the huge commitment shown by team members and their families to ensure that hill-goers continue to have a fantastic mountain rescue service when they need it throughout Scotland.”