Introduction

The tear-off slip attached to the Mountain Rescue Register that you fill in at your entry point lists who to contact and what information to supply in the event of an emergency. It is essential that you fill in the register accurately and take the slip with you on your hike, keeping it in a secure and waterproof location. In the event of an emergency, local authorities and rescue teams will refer to your entry in the Mountain Rescue Register as their most reliable and useful source of information.

An emergency usually fits into one of the following categories:

• A serious medical emergency is one that incapacitates a hiker, requiring him / her to be carried out on horseback, a stretcher or by helicopter. This type of emergency could be caused by an existing medical condition, a bad sprain or broken leg, a fall, a veld fire or stove-related accident, insect bites or stings, snakebite, a lightning strike, hypothermia or hyperthermia.
• Bad weather resulting in flooded rivers or deep snow may prevent you from progressing further or returning to your starting point, in which case a lack of food, prescription medication or exposure may eventually result in a medical emergency as well. You will need to report your situation and perhaps seek extrication by helicopter.
• You are very badly lost and need help getting back to civilisation.

Mountain Rescue

In the event of any of the above emergencies, first phone the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife office at your entry point. These telephone and cell phone numbers change quite often and landlines have become increasingly unreliable, so it is a good idea to check with the person on duty that you have at least one current, working number saved on your cell phone before you set out on your hike. Also remember that calls made outside of office hours will go unanswered if you only have an office number, so try to get the cell phone number/s of the person/s on duty. If, during an emergency, you get a weak cell phone signal, send an SMS to one or more of the cell phone numbers listed on the slip or that you have on your phone already. Contacting anyone by cell phone from within the Drakensberg wilderness area is almost certainly going to be problematic and you will probably have to send a runner up to a high point to get a useful signal. The alternative is to carry a very expensive satellite phone with you.

If you succeed in contacting an officer at your entry point, they will then follow a set of protocols that, if deemed necessary, will involve notifying the KZN section of the Mountain Club of South Africa’s rescue coordinator. If you cannot contact anyone at your entry point, then you should contact the Provincial Control Room on 0800 005133 and provide them with the following information:

1. Make it very clear that this is a DRAKENSBERG MOUNTAIN RESCUE emergency, otherwise they may assume that you can be reached by road and send an ambulance.
2. Give them your name and cell phone number.
3. State the nature of your problem (e.g. someone in your group has been bitten by a poisonous snake or has broken their leg).
4. Provide a detailed description of where the victim is located. Please note that while GPS coordinates may seem to be the best option, it is very easy to get these incorrect during communications and the MCSA rescue team therefore prefers not to use them.
5. State the name, gender and age of the victim. This will assist with identifying your entry in the Mountain Rescue Register and using it to inform rescuers of any medical conditions the victim may have. Very young or old victims add greater urgency to the situation.
6. State the number of people in your group. A small group spreads resources more thinly, especially when a victim needs to be attended to throughout the night and CPR may be required.
7. State the present weather conditions at your location. Stormy or windy weather, mist, precipitation or failing daylight may preclude or delay the use of a helicopter, in which case it may be necessary to send a rescue team (or search party) out on foot as soon as possible.

If the authorities decide on a helicopter rescue, this will usually involve the South African Air Force’s No. 15 Squadron based in Durban. Their winch-equipped Oryx helicopters are large and powerful enough, with good altitude performance, to get a rescue team onto the Drakensberg escarpment if necessary. The MCSA rescue team undertakes frequent rescue exercises with the squadron so they are well versed in mountain rescue. However, it will take at the very least 2 hours for one of their helicopters to reach you, excluding the time it takes for the decision to be made to use one. On rare occasions, especially when daylight is limited or weather conditions en route are less than favourable, a local tour helicopter may be used instead but a clear, safe landing area is required. Rumour has it that if you did not pay your entry fee and fill in the Mountain Rescue Register, you could be liable for the cost of the rescue because a portion of your entry fee goes into the helicopter rescue fund.

Death

In the very unfortunate event of a death in your party, notify the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife office at your entry point and also try to contact the nearest police station. Preferably do not move the body, and do not leave it unattended. The MCSA’s Mountain Rescue Team does not get involved with the retrieval of a body unless this is requested of them by the police. The Police Air Wing may use a helicopter to retrieve the deceased’s body and hiking equipment if the weather allows for this.