Mountain rescue teams publish, every year, a list of the things that were going on when they were called out. Slips. Being lost. Poor decisions. Weather. Overdue walkers. Kit that was not up to the day.
We took those lists, from three separate rescue services, and did something obvious with them. We put each line next to the lesson that teaches you how not to be it.
Almost every line had one. One did not, and we will come to that, because it turned out to be the most useful thing this exercise produced.
Where these figures come from
Three annual reports, all published in 2026 and covering 2025.
Mountain Rescue England and Wales recorded 3,968 call-outs and publishes a list of contributory factors. Scottish Mountain Rescue recorded 798 incidents and lists contributing factors for the 491 that were mountaineering incidents. The Lake District teams took 838 emergency calls and publish the reason given for each one.
They cover different ground and count different things, so the numbers are not addable. We have been through what the 2025 figures actually say in detail separately.
One thing to hold on to before the table. These are factors the teams recorded as present, not causes anybody has proved. The reports say what was going on. They do not claim to explain why, and neither do we.
The mapping
| What the rescue services record | The 2025 figure | The lesson that covers it |
|---|---|---|
| Poor decision making, human error | MREW: 939, the most recorded factor of all | The Adrenaline Dump (STOP), what to do in the first five minutes, before the decision goes wrong |
| Inexperience of pursuit | MREW: 644 | Start Here, and the honest self-assessment in is this walk actually for you |
| Lost | SMR: 60 · LDSAMRA: 115 calls | Getting Un-Lost, relocating from what you can see |
| Navigation error | SMR: 47 | Getting Un-Lost, plus the map habits in most Scottish mountain rescues happen in good weather |
| Overdue · missing · split from party | LDSAMRA: 67 · 14 · 17 | The Person at Home, who knows your plan and what they do when you are late |
| Equipment failure, poorly equipped | MREW: 241 | The First Aid Audit · The Orange Survival Bag · Your Signalling Kit |
| Weather | MREW: 518 | Caught in a Thunderstorm · Hypothermia |
| Tired, fatigued or unfit | MREW: 199 | Fuelling the Engine, what to eat and when, and why it stops being optional when you are cold |
| Slip or trip | MREW: 22% of primary reasons · SMR: 152 | The Twisted Ankle Fix · The Primary Survey |
| Ankle and foot injuries | MREW: 354, the commonest injury site · SMR: 34% of injury sites | The Twisted Ankle Fix, taping and walking someone out |
| Medical | SMR: 63 | Medical Emergencies · Head Injury and Concussion · DR<C>ABC |
| Search for a missing person | MREW: 18% of primary reasons | The Person at Home · Going for Help |
| The call itself | Only 9% of rescues involved a helicopter; 692 people were walked off | Calling for Help · What to Say When You Call · The Helicopter Handover |
| Benighted | LDSAMRA: 10 · SMR: 13 | ⚠️ Nothing yet. See below. |
The one line with no lesson
Being benighted, which is the polite word for still being out when the light goes.
The Lake District teams logged it as the reason for 10 calls in 2025. Scottish Mountain Rescue recorded it as a factor 13 times. Small numbers next to the others in the table, and the only line where we went looking for the matching lesson and did not find one.
The course hands you a head torch in Module 1 and then never comes back to what happens if you actually need it.
So that is the next lesson to be written, and it exists because of this exercise rather than in spite of it. If you are wondering what running out of daylight looks like in the figures, the busiest hour for rescue calls is 1pm and nearly two thirds come between noon and 7pm, which is a decent argument for thinking about the back half of your day before you set off.
We would rather tell you the gap exists than quietly leave it in the table.
Never Feel Lost Again: The Free UK Navigation & Safety Pack
Stop relying solely on a fragile phone battery. Download the exact tools a professional outdoor instructor uses to stay safe in the British hills.
Enter your email below to get instant access to:
- NEW: The Hike Planning & Safety Checklist: A comprehensive pre-walk checklist to ensure you never leave a critical item behind or rely purely on a smartphone.
- The Emergency Protocol Guide: A highly structured, zero panic system detailing exactly what to do if lost on Dartmoor/Scottish hills, including when and how to call Mountain Rescue.
- The OS Map & Navigation Cheat Sheet: A quick reference guide to decoding complex map symbols and plotting grid references when your mind goes blank.
- The Route Card Template: The exact, logic-driven framework I use to plan foolproof expeditions and identify safe escape routes before leaving the house.
- The Timing Crib Card: Never misjudge daylight again. Master the mathematics of measuring pacing distance and timings for steep ground.
What this table says about the course, and what it does not
What it says is that the Emergency Protocol Course was not built from a syllabus somebody imagined. It covers what actually happens, in the proportions it actually happens in, because that is the list the rescue teams publish.
What it does not say is that the course replaces a first aid course. It does not. The medical lessons are written at awareness level, which means recognising something, knowing what to do in the next few minutes, and knowing when it becomes a 999 call. They point you at proper hands-on training for the rest, and they say so plainly inside the course.
It also does not promise that any of this stops bad luck. A slip on wet rock is a slip on wet rock. What the course changes is what happens in the twenty minutes afterwards, which is usually the part that decides whether the day ends with a walk out or a phone call.
Where to start if you are new to this
You do not have to buy anything to start.
If you want the shape of the problem first, read what the 2025 rescue figures actually say. If you want to know what happens when you dial 999, we have been through the whole callout process. And if navigation is the bit that worries you, start with the five navigation mistakes that get people lost.
If you are heading out with a group on a big organised challenge, the Three Peaks piece is the one to read, because the commonest callout there is not what most people expect.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Emergency Protocol Course actually cover?
Twenty-six lessons across six modules, built around what mountain rescue teams record. Kit and preparation, everyday first aid including blisters, ankles and heat, the more serious stuff at awareness level, hazards including rivers, lightning and being lost, calling for help and what to say, and then the long wait until a team reaches you. It is written for walkers, not for medics.
Is this a substitute for a first aid course?
No, and the course says so in the lessons themselves. The medical content is written at awareness level, which means recognising a problem, knowing what to do immediately and knowing when to call 999. A hands-on outdoor first aid course teaches skills you cannot learn from reading, and the course points you at one.
How much is it and what does the money do?
It is £27, paid once, and it stays yours. At least £3 from every sale goes to mountain rescue services across the UK, which felt like the least we could do given that the entire syllabus is built from their annual reports.
Do I need this if I only do easy walks?
Look at the table again. The commonest recorded factors are poor decision making, inexperience, weather and kit, and the commonest injury is an ankle. None of those require a hard route. The Lake District figures also show most calls coming from the middle of an ordinary afternoon rather than from anywhere dramatic.
Why do you keep saying the figures do not explain themselves?
Because they do not, and a lot of writing about mountain rescue pretends otherwise. The reports record what was present at an incident. They do not record what caused it, and they do not record how many people were out on the hill that day. Anywhere on this site that you see an explanation attached to one of these numbers, it is either a rescue service’s own words, clearly attributed, or it is not there at all.
The Syllabus Was Already Written
Nobody at Bondringo sat down and invented a list of things that could go wrong on a hill.
Mountain rescue publishes that list every spring. All the course does is take it seriously, line by line, and teach the thing that sits behind each one, in the voice of somebody who has spent fifteen years teaching exactly the people those figures describe.
The Emergency Protocol Course is £27 and it is yours for good. At least £3 from every sale goes to mountain rescue services across the UK.
Have a look back at the table and find the line that sounds most like a day you have already had. That is the lesson to start with.
Ask any questions in the comments below.
