An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 19 passed certain mountain operations courses, and hold a technical certificate. As with SAR missions conducted by our own Air Corps crews, weather conditions, crew skill sets, medical re- quirements and any other pertinent factors are closely addressed in order to affect a successful mission, and to maintain the highest standards. The daily weather report is monitored and studied before every heli flight as very extreme weather can be experienced at the heights the crews may be required to operate, such as the 3,842m peak of Aiguille du Midi. Those who require rescuing are often also suffering from serious medical complications, such as trauma injury, hy- poxia, hypothermia, frostbite and many others, so having personnel capable of medical intervention of the high- est standard is also essential. PGHM medical teams are headed up by doctors specially trained in dealing with the kind of medical problems the team are likely to encounter. Medical crews must also be very familiar with all equip- ment found on any modern medevac helicopter, such as spinal boards, winches, vac-splints, etc, as this equipment is used on a daily basis. In the very harsh mountain environment the various tasks encountered by the SAR crews can be very challenging and the freezing cold can be a real worry prior to medevac of their patient, or patients, to the nearest hospital. Radio communications are of vital importance and PGHM operates its own network throughout Mount Blanc. Working in conjunction with this is another net- work, Sécurité Alerte Mont Blanc (SAMB), which is fi- nanced by an organisation based in Chamonix. Sometimes a rescue can turn into a recovery operation. In July 2012 nine climbers were struck by an avalanche during a dawn ascent of Mont Blanc. In cases such is this members of the unit use specially trained sniffer dogs as well as probe poles and listening devices in an attempt to locate those missing. Unfortunately, none of the climbers were found alive. Such operations not only require the best of training but also a strong and resilient team. Figures from 2011 show how busy the PGHM is. That year the Chamonix unit flew a total of 646 hours, of which 405 hours were on rescues. There were 712 rescue mis- sions, 901 persons rescued, and 2,024 winch operations. The corresponding figures for the Modane unit were: 583 hours of total flight; 396 hours of rescue operations; 536 rescue missions; 590 persons rescued; and 708 winch operations. It is now well understood that early medical interven- tion increases the chance of survival. This is particularly so in the case of the first hour, often referred to as 'the Golden Hour' by medical practitioners. Airlift by helicop- ter has the capability to deliver medical teams quickly to the scene of a medical emergency and also to get victims to hospital without delay. The ability of helicopters to land and take off in a small area and also to hover and winch medical/rescue personnel or victims, gives them an unparalleled flexibility in rescue operations. The members of the PGHM can be justifiably proud of their long and proud service to the region, its local popula- tion, and its many visitors and I would like to dedicate this article to all the gendarmerie members in Chamonix and Modane, past and present, especially those who died while engaged in rescue operations: 46 in total. Merci á toute! Many thanks also to Sarah geraghty (Press Attachée, French Embassy, Dublin) and Capitaine Emmanuel Ve- gas (Adjoint au Commandant le PgHM Chamonix) for their assistance in obtaining information and photo- graphs for this article.

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