A distinguished service award has been made to a leading figure at a Lake District mountain rescue team.
Dr Paula Cook, a deputy leader of the Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team, who is also a GP at the Central Lakes Medical Group in Ambleside, was given the award by the officers of Cumbria’s 12 mountain rescue teams for her outstanding contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richard Warren, chairman of the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association, said that 2020 had been tough for everyone, “but for Paula, as a local GP in Ambleside, juggling her professional role alongside being one of the team doctors in the very busy Langdale Ambleside Team, the year brought very considerable pressures.”
Paula, who is also the LDSAMRA medical officer, had taken on roles which included being the association’s medical lead at Cumbria’s weekly Local Resilience Group chaired by Cumbria police.
“Paula has been responsible for the implementation of COVID practices and PPE protection for team members during rescues, securing vast quantities of PPE, arrangements for early vaccination of our 400 team members and now overseeing the weekly lateral flow testing, all taken in her stride,” said Richard.
“On behalf of our 400 volunteer team members we thank you for continuing to keep us safe from the virus.”
Award complete surprise
Paula, for whom the award came as a complete surprise, said that by keeping the mountain rescue team members safe and protected as far as possible from COVID-19, “we have been able to remain operational throughout the pandemic, rescuing not only those who are visitors to the area but members of our own community who have been engaging in their normal work and activities on the fells.
“We are all members of our local community too and we want to do all we can to support all of us through this difficult period.”
Paula said that as a local GP she was seeing a huge increase in the volume of patients currently compared with pre-COVID.
“We are aware that many of our patients are struggling with the reduced capacity for hospitals to progress healthcare needs they have, which is challenging and stressful for our patients,” she said.
“Also, many more of our patients are experiencing challenges with their own mental health and wellbeing which can affect their ability to manage on a day to day basis, return to work and start to engage with the broader community and feel safe doing so.
“It was fashionable a few years ago to talk about compassionate communities without, at the time, much understanding about what that meant in practice. Locally we see strong examples of families, neighbours and friends supporting each other to come through the myriad of different ways that the pandemic has impacted us all.
“The months ahead will be different to those we have just survived, but that support and compassion for each other and offering that goodwill to those who visit our communities will continue to be important.”
