THE Guardia Civil rescue service yesterday took possession of some £4'000 worth of equipment.
The much-needed equipment has been bought by the Home Office and was handed over to central government representative to the Balearics, Miquel Ramis. The new gear includes a special stretcher for helicopter rescue operations and 400 metres of rope of different thicknesses and harnesses to help rescue workers operate in the mountains of down cliffs and waterfalls.
Last year, the Guardia Civil, sea-mountain rescue service carried out 45 operations, 64 percent more than in 2002.
The bulk of the rescues are carried out between May and October, the tourist season. The new equipment has been well received, as this year, the Guardia Civil have already dealt with a sharp increase in rescues. During the first quarter, 17 mountain rescue missions had to be mounted, 11 in this month alone, nearly three times the six rescue missions during the first three months of last year. This summer, a sea/mountain awareness campaign is set to be launched to alert visitors to the dangers and what measures to take, especially if heading off hiking into the mountains.
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