Rescue team names new van after Emma
Date published: 06 October 2009
Oldham Mountain Rescue Team has named an additional vehicle to the fleet in memory of one of its members.
“Emma G” has been named after Emma Grandidge, a long-serving member who qualified as a doctor and provided support for the team at incidents, medical and first aid training.
But she died two years ago, and although two members of her family continue with the team, it was decided to dedicate their newly-acquired support vehicle to her memory.
The vehicle has been bought to cope with the increased number of call-outs the team has had to deal with and to accommodate increased membership.
A spokesman said: “The vehicle will be used primarily for transporting personnel.
“We heard Woodhouse Mountain Rescue Team were preparing to sell off their control and transport van, since they were in the process of kitting out a new vehicle.
“So we decided to go for the Wodehouse vehicle and bought it for £4,000.
“The vehicle already has many modifications to make it useful to our team rather than having to spend money converting a police van, which we had been offered.
“It’s now been kitted out with team radios and all the necessary equipment to allow it to be used as a ambulance, a support vehicle to our Land Rovers, and a control centre and personnel transporter.”
The spokesman said Stockport Truck Centre carried some external restoration work on the vehicle at a competitive price through one of the rescue team members. And The Sign Box, based in Oldham, fitted new signage free of charge. “We are very grateful to them,” he added.
Since the beginning of the year, the mountain rescue team has attended 66 incidents — a 50 per cent increase on last year’s total number of turnouts.
In addition to many spectacular rescues, some on wild moorland, they have supported police and fire services at a host of other incidents.
