The Covid-19 crisis has led the Clonmel-based South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association to consider how they react to call-outs.
As a result people are being urged to think twice before taking to the hills and mountains.
Liz Brown from SEMRA told Tipp FM they’ve had to change their priorities entirely:
“The minimum number possible will go on response to a casualty. And when somebody rings us now for help, our first called won’t be ‘where are you and what happened to you?’, it’ll be ‘Are you at risk, or are you self-isolating because of COVID-19? Have you returned from a high-risk area?’
“Because we have try and do our best to protect our team members, so that: 1. they don’t bring it back home to their own families; 2. we don’t infect other people on the team because that can bring the whole team down; or 3. infect the casualties.”
