Galloway Mountain Rescue Team completed a successful training exercise on the River Ken on Sunday.
Nine members practised basic swiftwater rescue technician skills at the High Bridge of Ken between Dalry and Carsphairn.
More advanced techniques such as setting up a Tyrolean traverse across the ravine – a rescue method designed to extract a casualty from a deep gorge – were also introduced.
Team leader Stewart Gibson told the News: “We had a fantastic training day.
“With better weather approaching and the relaxing of some Covid restrictions, we really hope that people take notice of warning signs and hazards around the region’s waterways.”
GMRT established its own water rescue unit following the disastrous flooding of December 2015, when Newton Stewart town centre was inundated.
And Galloway Hydro Scheme owners Drax were on hand to check out the team in action.
Stewart said: “It was a very useful exercise and we had a representative of Drax there to see our training.
“In the past two years we went for the next level – water rescue technician – with four days of training and quite advanced techniques compared to what we had.
“We have the skills acquired through six years of water rescue training and are making Drax, the police and the fire and rescue service aware of what our capabilities are.”
Stewart, from Dalry, added: “Quite a few of our members live in the Glenkens.
“If we had an incident here it would seem ridiculous to wait for the fire brigade to come from Dumfries when we could be on the scene in five minutes.”
