Of course it could all have been 'very different', if say there had been an American style hurricane or a version of the current European floods, but there wasn't.

Have 'spokespersons' been trained to come out with such meaningless statements and also told to introduce an element of self promotion at some point, ie 'swift actions', etc.

It was just a DofE group off on the wrong track and the heavy-team were probably called in because the participating organisation's safety rules required that the leader made the call.

A more dignified response might have been, "We were happy to help find the group".

Four miles off route in good weather and all this commotion!

Can people not discern the difference between an emergency and a routine occurrence in these expeditions.

They were as stated well equipped so they could have camped where they were.

Expensive nonsense.

typical of the sort of hyped up response that the media uses today, the group had obviously been trained what to do if they became lost, they were properly equipped, there was no horrendous out come, but still, lets make it into something its not.

Mandy, I agree with your comments, however in this case it is more worrying, as it seems to be the police themselves (through a spokesperson) that are doing the hyping and creating the drama.

Maybe it's a product of the newly centralised Scottish police force.

Perhaps Bob Smith the Editor of Grough could bring these comments to the attention of the Press Office of the Scottish Police.

Has anyone actually read the article? It clearly states the group were "overdue". It is common policy and some say commonsence to have a due time or date for a walk.

If a group is overdue a time, then what else can be done by the person telephoning the rescue services? They don't know the reason, just the group have missed a deadline.

Looks like this clearly worked in practise. The end paragraph is a wee bit hysterical though.

Jhimmy, the DofE through its Operating Authorities do have robust safety procedures in place (some might claim they are too robust).

As I said in the first post, 'because the participating organisation's safety rules required that the leader made the call', and the supervisor would probably still have had to call even though they had a reasonable idea of what was happening with the group.

So, as Paul B wrote, 'Can people not discern the difference between an emergency and a routine occurrence in these expeditions'.

Anyone with knowledge of the DofE would probably agree with that and his other comments.

Perhaps the police and other services should get to know a bit more about DofE expeditions and how they are run; though remembering that some in the poiice and rescue team members are already involved with the DofE.

Has anyone here heard of remote supervision, if a qualified mountain leader/leaders were deployed to conduct remote supervision then the organisers would of had a pretty good idea of the location of the DofE group. thereby being in a position to find the DofE group, by backtracking the route and looking at possible tricky navigational problem areas.
Also any DofE group should be trained to go to ground if they are overdue or late and then to continue in the morning, again adding to this any DofE group should carry a mobile phone as a emergency item which they can turn on and contact their supervisor of organiser. I hear you say if they have signal, a valid point, however, a signal can be found in most cases, and if not and it is a absolute emergency as a matter of life or death, then the group should have been trained in emergency procedures to follow as part of any risk assessment, and the right thing to do is to go for help and call for help e.g. Mountain Rescue.
In regard to the critical comments towards the emergency services (police, Mountain Rescue) when they are called, they respond and they do their job and a damn good job it is too, remember anyone can have a accident where they may require help one day, and finally, of course this incident could have turned out different, just like any accident. Remember, another consideration would have be steep ground locally which the DofE group could have wondered onto, again remote supervision would have prevented this and any impending bad weather will also be a issue.

Yes, remote supervision is a very important technique and as you rightly say the supervisor should always have a good idea of where a group is; even if misplaced.

Not sure if a mobile phone is really needed, or for that matter appropriate for the group, as there was no such thing during the first 50 years of DofE expeditions.

A quote from Walter Bonatti:

“The unknown is an invaluable component of adventure. Facing it puts you indirect contention with your own doubts and worries. It eats away at your inner being. Confronted by the unknown, difficulties expand and your limits contract. But it takes very little to reduce or even abolish the unknown – a tiny radio transmitter or some similar device carried during a climb may seem a small thing, but metaphorically it is like playing poker with nothing but aces in your hand."

But of course in our current 'risk averse' society a statement like this will be seen as heresy.

A few years back I heard a good quote -

'Award groups don't need mobile phones, they need good supervisors'.