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| Search & Rescue Helicopters | |||||||||||||||||||
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All members of the Unit regularly train with helicopters. The Ministry of Defence provides Search and Rescue Helicopters to assist with civil emergencies, and their crews regularly assist Mountain Rescue Teams in Scotland. To maintain efficiency for the helicopter crews and teams, training is conducted at least once each year in Tayside. This gives the crews the experience of flying in and around the hills of Perthshire and Angus, and it also gives the Unit experience of travelling in these machines. Helicopters are normally used to deploy personnel onto the high ground of a search area, thus getting the team into the area quicker. They are also used to recover a casualty to hospital, a much faster trip than in an ambulance by road. There are two helicopter squadrons in Scotland, one in Lossiemouth, the other in Prestwick. The Police ask for their assistance through the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC) in Kinloss. |
