Walkers rescued who become disorientated on Dartmoor

Callout 04 / 2018 - 18:24  23rd January 2018

A team callout was raised at 18:24 after Devon and Cornwall Police had received a call from 2 adult walkers who had become disorientated on a walk in the Haytor area of Dartmoor.

Members began arriving at the rendezvous at the Haytor Rocks top car park shortly afterwards and the first 3 to arrive were tasked to their suspected location which was either Holwell Tor or Smallacombe Rocks.

The small team walked out towards Holwell Tor along the granite railway and soon saw the missing adults signalling to us with their torches. They were fit and well and had just lost their bearing after the mist had closed in shortly before nightfall. Rather than wander aimlessly they had made the correct decision to stay put and seek help.

Properly equipped

They were properly equipped for the conditions and having torches in their packs 'just in case' certainly made our job a lot easier and enabled us to find them less than an hour after the callout was raised.

In these sort of scenarios where the people we are looking for have a smartphone and are in an area of mobile coverage, we can use a tool called 'SARloc' that sends an SMS text message to their mobile phone with a link. Clicking the link will send us a text message back which includes the Ordnance Survey grid reference of where they are. In this case, our search team had found them so quickly that before our control vehicle had been set up and the text message could be sent, our members were already walking them back to the car park.

A good result that just highlights the importance of carrying a torch with you on the hill 'just in case'.