Maharashtra Mountaineers Rescue Coordination Centre Helpline launched
Guardian Giripremi Institute of mountaineering on 28th Aug 2016 launched Maharashtra Mountaineers Rescue Coordination Centre (MMRCC) helpline at the hands of Mr. Ramesh Kale, Additional Collector, Pune. The helpline (7620 230 231) will be a 24X7 service available for coordinating an immediate search & rescue operation required in any parts of rural Maharashtra.
Sahyadri range of Maharashtra has now become a playground for every adventure enthusiast especially the trekkers, rock climbers, photographers and many more nature lovers. However, the remoteness of some of the locations, difficulty of technical climbs and dangers of wilderness have led to serious mishaps, at times even fatal ones, creating a sense of fear among the masses. In the past few years, no. of casualties have significantly risen up yet the system for identifying the victim location, severity of the situation and subsequent effective measures to be implemented is not well organized.
The motive behind setting up MMRCC is to create a well-organized body which can quickly locate the casualty location, connect with the local mountaineers & rescue volunteers, police station & ambulance, offer first aid treatment and rescue the victim to a nearest medical aid speedily.
The helpline launch programme was a get together of all the mountaineers and rescue volunteers from across Maharashtra, where the necessity of creating a centralized rescue volunteers database, sharing of inputs from experienced rescuers and future implementation of MMRCC was discussed. Programme witnessed huge response from volunteers from some of the most rural sections of the state. During the programme, rescue groups such as ‘Shivdurga Mitra Adventure Club’ Lonavla, ‘Vainatey Giryarohan & Giryabhraman Club, Nashik’, ‘Yashvanti Hikers, Khopoli ’, ‘Sahyadri Trekking, Satara’, ‘Mahabaleshwar Adventurers, Mahabaleshwar’, ‘Sahyadri Mitra, Mahad’, ‘Rahu Kakade Help Academy, Devrukh’, ‘Sanjay Gaikwad, Sinhagad, Ghera Samiti’, Agivale family from Mahuli and baban Kadu from Lingana region were felicitated for their contribution in rescue operations during the past few years.
During the programme, along with Mr. Kale, Mr. Prashant Ranpise, Head, Fire brigade, Pune, Dr. Prasad Rajhans, Head, ICU, Mangeshkar Hospital, Mr. Manish Sabade, CMD, Guardian Corp., Mr. Umesh Zirpe, Director, GGIM, Mr. Niranjan Palsule, Director, GGIM and Mrs. Ushaprabha Page, Founder Giripremi were present.
Mr. Prashant Ranpise highlighted the importance of safety and security of the rescue volunteers who selflessly devote themselves for such noble cause; while Dr. Rajhans discussed the role and contribution of 108 helpline and how this service can be integrated with MMRCC work. Towards the end, his team also demonstrated the functioning of ambulance & usage of technology during the emergency situation.
Mr. Ramesh Kale, highly appreciated the concept of MMRCC and urged everyone to spread awareness about this noble cause. While mentioning the importance of the rescue work, he assured the necessary support from government towards MMRCC work.
During the meeting, Giripremi’s Everester, Ganesh More presented detailed scope of work of MMRCC.
Everester Ashish Mane, introduced ‘TrekMate’ an android based application which is extremely helpful not only for all rescue volunteers but every adventure enthusiast. The ‘send current location’ service from app will be very helpful for rescuers to reach on correct accident spot easily. This app is freely available on google store at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=voyager.trekmate.
Opening address of the programme was delivered by Mr. Umesh Zirpe; Mrs. Ushaprabha Page concluded and Dr. Sumit Mhandale anchored the programme.
7620 230 231 helpline will be available 24X7 and Aniket Kulkarni, Priyanka Chinchorkar, Ashish Mane & Yugank Kadam will be available as MMRCC coordinators.
