SEMRA members are motivated by helping people and doing our best to ensure people get down safely off of the hills. We encourage anyone in trouble to call for assistance (999 or 112). The sooner the better, as it takes time to mobilise to a callout and to locate a casualty on site and it certainly makes it easier if we can get to you before it gets dark. There is no doubt that making the call has saved lives and prevented serious injury on our hills.

The mountains are there to be enjoyed by all but can be unforgiving when things go wrong. We do not judge the people we help and our main concern is to get those in trouble to safety so that they can get home to their family and friends. We often pass on advice and guidance to people we rescue but kindness and respect are the cornerstones of what we do.

We report our callouts on Social Media to raise awareness of what we do, to educate and to help sustain our fundraising efforts. There is considerable public interest in mountain rescue, particularly from the outdoors community and many people are passionate about the mountains, about safety and about our team!

We appreciate and understand that there will always be a range of opinion and debate is an integral and healthy part of social media. However, at the heart of every rescue we engage in is at least one human being who has, more often than not, already had a very testing experience by the time they encounter us. Negative criticism that may deter people from seeking help early and make a bad situation much worse will not make our work any easier and could potentially increase risk to people in the mountains.

We are therefore appealing to people to think carefully before commenting on our posts. Remember that we are all human, we all have moments of vulnerability and we all make mistakes and even the most prepared can get caught out by a change in weather or conditions or simply fall or get injured on the hill.

When any of us do need support and guidance, personalised criticism and abusive or offensive language does not help. So please, be kind, reflect on what you choose to say and how you say it and remember the humans behind the posts, the rescued and the rescuers! We politely ask you to reflect rather than react.

Thank you for your continued support – SEMRA.

Credit: Mourne Mountain Rescue Team for allowing us to adopt their original message.