Callout Stories

A look back to the Responder stories from our most recent deployment.

A Bowl of Soup

Our responders were often tasked with transporting carers to local home addresses and whilst making a bowl of soup may seem a basic gesture, it provides a nutritional and hot meal to someone who is unable to make it. This carer may have been the only person that this patient would have seen that day and with everyone else tucked in out of the weather, should anyone have had an accident in their home and been unable to call for help your actions could have been critical in avoiding undesirable consequence.

 The Goose - Ben HI​1​1

I was at a farmhouse assisting two carers who look after the farmer’s wife. The Farmer was surprised that they turned up without fail over these few days and in a show of gratitude, he told the carers to pull over at a specific gate on the way home where they would discover a quad behind the hedge. In the back was a gift for them… I wasn’t told this when they got in, so off I went to the next job and 5 minutes after setting off, totally out the blue, I was asked to pull over next to a gate. Totally oblivious I asked what was happening. “Oh, just picking something up”. Off they go behind a hedge and return with the biggest goose I’ve ever seen slung over shoulder!! What a laugh I had with those carers. They are underpaid and Underappreciated, but they do the job day in day out with such good humour.

Meal of the Day

​The Thurso Mental health team were transported to provide vital medical treatment to their patients. One of which had been unable to get to shops to buy some food. So, this callout ensured a member of our community ate that day.

Rockstar in a Ditch

Enroute home from Caithness, Responders Josh HI06 and James HI01 came across an old school rocker and his partner who had bellied out their campervan in deep snow. They were tired and not making much progress so we got stuck in. 2 hours of careful digging and assistance with traction boards saw him free and clear. 

The Blizzard - Josh HI​06

The snow was pounding the road ahead of us, wind howling, with the drifts forming as quickly as they were being cleared. We got to the edge of Castletown where we came across multiple vehicles stuck in both directions. After chatting with the council lads there trying to keep the road open, we got the traction boards out of the truck and helped out getting some cars going again. One car was particularly tricky, stuck in a drift with no traction at all. Five people pushing finally got it moving and once onto the boards it had enough momentum to keep going...or so we thought. After it just got out of sight in the blizzard, where visibility was down to only 5meters, someone ran back to grab us and said it was stuck again. The weather was so bad you needed goggles, you couldn't talk or see each other, you had to yell!