Re-tasked: CAVRA

New Purposes What's Next Background

New: Materials

1. New Purposes

1. CAVRA

   (Cardiff and Vale Rescue Association) We have been asked by this charity, set up to support the local police and other rescue services, to be one of the teams that they can call on for a wide range of emergencies in this area, as well as for cover at occasional major public and sporting events.

   The various aspects of our training are discussed with the officers of CAVRA, and they will set up exercises and joint events with other CAVRA teams. Though many procedures will have to be decided as we gain experience, we are planning to be operational and ready for a call-out from 08 Sep 2003.

2. BELA

   (Basic Expedition Leader Award of the British Sports Council) Students will be trained in a range of outdoor skills, and after the assessment be qualified to take other groups on hikes, up to a level of 600 m.

3. mca/CG 'Additional Resource'

   The mca/CG have accepted the team at the College as an additional resource. While they would not call us out on for a cliff incident, they would for a search if the other teams in the area do not have sufficient numbers. We therefore need to maintain our familiarity with the local coast and search and associated skills.

4. Other

   1. We have every intention of continuing to provide students, throughout their two years, with exciting experiences that go beyond what is required for the BELA: to introduce them to climbing, to let them go hiking in more demanding areas, including Snowdonia, to teach cliff skills like abseiling and jumaring.
   2. With the skills that we have in the unit, we are able to help others to share some of the excitement, whether it be by running an Activity for other students at College, or letting link parents and their children have a go at the pool wall.
   3. The unit has started to take on the responsibility, which used to be with the Houses, for providing 'fire reps', and this has enabled an extension of the system of checking equipment and so on. (1 hr/month)
   4. The unit has, apparently, always been in charge of campus searches should the need arise, and this year we have started to become more familiar again with the in some places difficult terrain. (4 hrs/year)

2. What's Next (August 2003)

1. Programme

   1. Because of our involvement with CAVRA, students will now have to learn, in a very short space of time, basic cliff rescue techniques: a rescuer taking a rescue strop down to a casualty, who can then either be lowered or hauled to the top; in the latter case, this will require use of a quadpod.

      Other skills that all students should have are radio procedure, navigation, first aid, searching, and these too will be further practised in August.

   2. There is a fixed syllabus for the BELA, and this will be covered in different sessions; students will have to spend some time during the afternoons completing their individual log-books.

      They will have most of the 30 required hours of voluntary leadership experience during 1st-Year Camp, and the external assessment will take place with the walk-leaders at Camp.

   3. All students in the Service will go to Snowdonia in North Wales for a three-day weekend, both as part of the preparation for the BELA -- under the headings of Planning and Preparation, Navigation, Equipment, Living Out of Doors -- and in order to gain a wider range of experience on higher ground.

2. August Period Groups

   Group A	Group B	Group C
   Simon A Hatim A Karolis B Carolina C Annikki H Patricia M Fernande van T	< Liam G < Nicola H < Catherine M < Kanto I Matthieu B > Melvin B > Tereza B > Gosia J >	Tristan B Jenny B Tamla E Raymond L Yaya L Thiago M Zoe N Selma S

   (For the trip to Snowdonia, Group B had to be divided.)

3. A New Name

   Some of us are not happy with "CAVRA Service". How about "Rescue Association", short for "CAVRA" (= "Cardiff and Vale Rescue Association")?

3. Background

1. For many years, the Coastguard Service at Atlantic College trained students in the search and rescue techniques of HM Coastguards, (which became part of the mca.) With the local CG station based at the College, staff and students were involved in many call-outs along the 18 miles of coastline that the station was responsible for. The principle of the training was that second-years would pass on their skills and experience to the first-years, under the supervision of the staff, and in the process develop their own skills of leadership and teaching.
2. For some years, the unit had mostly trained and used techniques developed at the College, but at the insistence of mca/CG, their official techniques were fully adopted some years ago. Much of the rescue and communications equipment, and some of the protective gear, as well as a vehicle, were provided by mca/CG, but because of the large number of students that were trained, a large part of the funding always had to come from the College.
3. At the same time as training students in rescue skills and providing call-out cover throughout the year, the unit at the College aimed to prepare students for a range of outdoor activities, in particular hiking and basic climbing. The purpose of some sessions along the coast, weekend hiking trips to the Brecon Beacons and three-day camps in Snowdonia was for students to come to enjoy such activities and learn to do them safely, and hopefully to share their enthusiasm with other people in the future.
4. Unfortunately, in September 2002 the mca/CG decided that they could no longer allow the station at the College to operate in the way in which it had been doing for many years. A major issue seemed to be that it had not been possible for the Sector Manager to 'validate' the training of students -- the fact that it had been supervised by experienced staff and resulted in a high level of competence seemed not sufficient to satisfy the official requirements. Moreover, the College's ability to provide the necessary cover during the summer months was questioned, even though there was no evidence of any emergency not properly responded to.