Asda's snow-bound home delivery drivers get a helping hand

Asda's home delivery teams have been pulling out all the stops to get customers’ vital Christmas groceries to them despite the snow and ice that has brought havoc to so many different parts of the UK.

We’ve been hearing stories of drivers getting stuck with their vans overnight – and one incident where a local search and rescue team helped make sure the turkeys, sprouts and other essentials got through to customers.

Home shopping driver Tony Gooding was delivering orders from the Asda store in Barrow-in-Furness when his van got stuck in Grange over Sands.

A lady out walking her dog saw he was in trouble and phoned her partner, who’s a member of the Bay Search and Rescue team, a voluntary organisation that provides support to coastguard, mountain rescue teams and other emergency services around the Morecambe Bay area.

Five members of the team arrived to pull Tony out – and he was able to complete the rest of his evening deliveries. The team posted this photo and others on Flikr.

Asda Barrow store manager Mike Hockney said: “We’re very grateful for their help and want to make a donation of £250 for their efforts in helping us ensure out customers got their deliveries last night.

“We just want to say a huge thank you to Mike Davis and his team for coming to help us out of a sticky spot. Without their help, we wouldn’t have been able to deliver the Christmas shop to waiting customers in Grange over Sands. Thanks to them, customers received their deliveries and our driver returned home safely. These guys are real unsung heroes.”

There have inevitably been some situations where it’s just been impossible to get vans through to customers – and we’re really sorry when that happens – but even then there are great examples of our customers and colleagues being resourceful.

Just before he got stuck in Grange over Sands, Tony was able to arrange with one customer to meet her half way from her home as she had a 4×4 capable of getting through the snow and ice.

BSAR team involved with Rescue work at Cockermouth

Flookburgh based Bay Search and Resuce have had a busy weekend after two
local callouts; one on Thursday to help look for a missing person in the
Floods at Ulverston, and one early on Friday to locate a person seen in
the sand gullies on Morecambe Bay, the BSAR team were called to assist in
the Cockermouth floods rescue effort.

As part of our new role assisting Cumbria Fire and Rescue, the teams
Hagglund ATERV (all terrain emergency response vehicle) and Landrover
Ambulance was escorted under blue lights to Cockermouth on Friday
afternoon where the 8 strong BSAR crew worked alongside teams from all
over the UK to help evacuate residents, and provide assistance to those
wishing to remain in their houses. Initially in the raging fast moving
floods, powerful boats were used. Subsequently as the water levels dropped
and the amount of debris increased in and below the water, boats are less
useful,but vehicles still cannot be used, so the Hagglund ATERV capable of
carrying 18 people in warm, dry and relative comfort was a useful asset.
The crews worked from arrival Friday afternoon through to late Saturday,
catching bits of sleep in the vehicles in between tasks. The Hagglund was
the last vehicle operating in the towns flooded Main Street at 1.30am
Friday night, and the first vehicle back in at first light mapping the
flood depth and perimeters.

Subsequently both our vehicles were tasked to the 'Gote' area on the far
side of the river which had been completely cut off apart from by rescue
boat since the start of the floods. The Hagglund again was the first
vehicle into the area and spent the rest of the day evacuating residents,
including a medical emergency case by stretcher, and ferrying in bridge
surveyors and engineers. It also recovered dozens of computers holding
vital medical records for a large proportion of Cockermouth residents from
the flooded medical centre. The devastation was clear to see with cars
thrown everwhere and roads and walls ripped apart by the force of the
water. Koi carp, obviously from garden ponds were found by the team
swimming in remaining flood water on the estate. As the flood levels
dropped and other rescue teams could gain careful access on foot, the BSAR
team were stood down and returned to base early Saturday evening after a
busy three days.

BAY SEARCH AND RESCUE TO BECOME TECHNICAL RESCUE AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT TEAM TO CUMBRIA FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

For the last ten years Bay Search and Rescue a volunteer team and charity based in Flookburgh, have been working away very quietly, but very hard, solving some of the problems faced by Rescuers when trying to safely navigate the unpredictable sands of Morecambe Bay. And then once navigated how to best extract those unfortunate men, women, children, animals and vehicles trapped by the notorious sands, before the next tide!

These logistic and technical rescue abilities are unique to the Flookburgh team, who over the last few years have made a great effort to share them with the rest of the rescue world, and soon are to be published in ‘Technical Rescue’, an Internationally respected and renowned rescue services magazine.

The range of dedicated rescue vehicles the team has available includes a Hagglund ATERV (All Terrain Emergency Rescue Vehicle) personnel carrier/ambulance and a Hagglund ATERV cargo carrier with crane. These tracked vehicles originally designed for military use in the Arctic are capable of traveling safely over almost any terrain and have full amphibious capabilities. The team are also in the final stages of building what they believe is the UK’s first Search and Rescue airboat. Similar to those now used by the US Coastguard to great effect in the evacuation of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, these craft can travel safely in any depth of water (or even no water at all!), but with no moving parts underwater are ideally suited for flood relief and the shallow channels of the Bay.

Joint training exercises undertaken with Cumbria Fire & Rescue proved to be of such a revelation to the local Fire crews that the question was asked if Bay Search and Rescue could assist them with other quicksand rescue requirements and also many other types of incidents further inland. Suggestions proposed included: Moorland and forest fires; to safely transport fire crews and heavy equipment to the scene. Animal rescue: a recent success extracting a horse from quicksand at Silverdale proved this point. Flood rescue; transporting crews, welfare into flood areas and recovering people back out safely (and warm and dry!). Recovery of crashed vehicles, aeroplanes etc from difficult to access areas. And of course any operations involving snow or blocked roads and gaining access to stranded vehicles and cut off homes.

After proving the teams capabilities to Cumbria Fire & Rescue Senior Officers and a subsequent visit from the Chief Fire Officer Dominic Harrison to the station at Flookburgh, a Memorandum or Understanding has been drawn up and is to be officially signed on Thursday 22nd October in the presence of MP Tim Farron, Councillors Iain Stewart and Pru Jupe. This will result in Bay Search and Rescue becoming an on-call Technical Rescue and Support unit for the whole of Cumbria, who can be called on by local Crews who have the need of such specialist vehicles, equipment and skills.

Station officer and long standing Chairman Gary Parsons said “After many years of providing our life saving service on the coast in just in our local area, we have realized that we can offer so much further inland. We will never neglect our primary duty to the safety of those unwitting few, who are unlucky enough to fall foul of the sands of the Bay. But we are not alone in our quest to make our part of the country as safe as possible, and no one team or agency alone ever has all the right solutions and answers”.

“Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service are the professionals we all rely on for so many different things, and fulfil many different roles in the search and rescue environment. From fires and floods to people trapped in cars, to derailed trains and quicksand rescue to mention but a few

“The signing of this Memorandum of understanding between our two organisations, is a common sense step in the right direction for the future, making good use of our unique vehicles and skills available to this county, and to the wellbeing of those who live and visit here”

“This is a very proud moment for me and the team, and for us goes someway towards recognition for all that we have achieved in the past”