Control and logging: the team behind the team

How our controllers and loggists run a mountain rescue incident, from base, from home or from M3, our control vehicle.

The team's M3 incident control vehicle, a Volkswagen Caravelle in red and yellow chequered livery, set up as a control point at night beside a radio mast, with a team member walking past by head torch

Every incident is run from a control point. Out on the hill, team members search, carry stretchers and wade rivers. At control, two people keep track of them: the controller, who talks to the emergency services and sends help where it’s needed, and the loggist, who writes everything down. They are the team behind the team.

When the call comes in

Most of our incidents come from Yorkshire Ambulance Service or South Yorkshire Police. Their request goes to our duty controller, an experienced team member on call day and night.

The duty controller gathers the details: who needs help, where they are, how badly hurt they might be, the weather and the light. Then they decide how the team should respond, from a small group to the whole team, and alert our members.

A control board of tally cards from the July 2026 moorland fires. A Woodhead Mountain Rescue card marked W1 sits beside cards for Glossop Mountain Rescue Team and a fire engine.
Control keeps track of every team and vehicle at a big incident. W1 is us. Names have been blurred.

Running an incident

  • Choosing where the team should meet and which vehicles to send.
  • Planning the search: where the missing person is most likely to be, and which areas to search first.
  • Briefing search parties, giving each one a task and an area.
  • Keeping track of where every party is, and of their safety.
  • Talking to the police, the ambulance service, the coastguard helicopter and neighbouring teams.
  • Calling in more help when it is needed, such as other Peak District teams or search dogs.
  • Standing the team down safely when the job is done, and making sure everyone gets home.

The loggist

The loggist works beside the controller and writes down everything that happens: every message, decision and time. The incident log is the official record of the incident. It lets a fresh controller take over on a long job, helps the team learn from each incident at the debrief, and can be needed by the police or a coroner afterwards.

Having a loggist frees the controller to think, plan and talk.

Three places to run control

At base

Our base near Penistone has a control room. For a long search it is often the best place to run things from, with space for the controller, the loggist and the maps.

From home

Many incidents begin, and some are run from start to finish, from a controller’s kitchen table by phone and laptop. When the call comes at 2am, the controller can have the team on the move before they have even left the house.

In M3, our control vehicle

For bigger or longer incidents, M3, our Volkswagen Caravelle, drives to the edge of the search area and becomes the control point. M3 was donated by South Yorkshire Police. Find out more on our vehicles page.

Team members in red jackets, some holding helmets and maps, gathered beside the team's Land Rover Discovery on moorland at dusk, with a search dog
A briefing beside one of our vehicles before search parties head out.

Training

Our controllers are operational team members. They train in search planning and in managing incidents, alongside the hill skills every team member learns. In control they are supported by assistants from our supporters group. Loggists learn to keep a clear, accurate record under pressure.

On long jobs, our supporters keep control and the team going with hot food and drinks.

Want to know more about how an incident works? See our incident log and incident statistics.