Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth (DSRTP)

Take the opportunity to make a difference to people's lives and explore Dartmoor
Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth
Volunteer to act as a journalist during real search and rescue missions, or as a casualty during training exercises. Explore collaborative research opportunities, or train to save a life by becoming a fully badged search and rescue worker. There's lots of opportunities to get involved and explore with Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth (DSRTP).

Student opportunities

Want to find out more about the DSRTP? Join them at one of their training sessions, held on Dartmoor every Tuesday evening, to discover more about what they do.
If you're a University of Plymouth student, you can act as casualties for the DSRTP night-time training exercises. Experience Dartmoor in different conditions, see the team working and gain valuable skills.

Walk for us

DSRTP relies almost entirely on fundraising activities to provide 24-hour search and rescue on Dartmoor. Each year the team organises challenging walks on the beautiful Dartmoor and invites you to join them.

It was great how everyone got involved and how at ease and comfortable everybody was together. The training session that we went along to allowed members practising their skills on a stretcher exercise. We were asked to take part and enjoyed a nice trip up and down a hill whilst being strapped to the three different types of stretchers. We were treated as if we were a proper casualty and all of the members of the team took it very seriously, so that if they ever needed to put this exercise into action they would be more than ready.

Kathryn Goddard, Ciara Daly and Simon Stone – reporters for UPSU
 

Plymouth graduate Nolan Smyth joined DSRTP to help save lives

"After talking to one of the members of the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth (DSRTP) during a fundraising event, I thought that it would be good to get back into walking on the Moors, but this time with a purpose and what better purpose than training to save people’s lives. I was also interested in the technical side of the training such as the specialised first aid training, micro navigation and radio work."
"DSRTP is a purely charitable organisation and receives no funding, other than what we organise and collect ourselves through fundraising events. The partnership with University of Plymouth benefits the team immensely and allows us to maintain, and improve on, our current equipment and facilities. This means we can be even more efficient, professional and well equipped, and can continue to provide a much needed service."
"We love being able to work closely with the staff and students of University of Plymouth. Currently students are helping us with training evenings by performing as casualties and in return, they receive an insight into our scope and capabilities."
"There are also opportunities for students to be trainees, which will have numerous benefits for them. They’ll gain vital skills in team work, leadership and creative thinking, plus they’ll learn to cope with performing technical tasks under stressful conditions, all of which are lifelong lessons."
Nolan Smyth, BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy graduate
 

Moor to Sea without the Car: walks from Plymouth using public transport

Together in partnership with DSRTP our talented students and staff created a guide to sustainably exploring the countryside surrounding Plymouth
Moor to Sea without the Car is a unique, walking guide created in partnership with the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth (DSRTP) and the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership. Each walk, written by DSRTP members, is beautifully illustrated with original paintings, photographs, poetry and maps, masterfully created by University of Plymouth students and staff.
All proceeds from the sale of the book go to Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth (registered charity 1106095) to support their work finding loved ones and saving lives in the communities of Plymouth, Dartmoor and their surrounding areas.
'Moor to Sea without the Car' book cover. Illustration by Lucy Pulleybank

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