Shillong, Mar 30: Teimiki Sungoh has been named Best Rescuer along with 11 trainees from among 26 participants in the Search and Rescue Course at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling recently.
Sungoh, of Shangpung in West Jaintia Hills, undertook the programme through the Meghalaya Sport Climbing & Mountaineering Association, of which he is the Assistant Secretary.
He will be awarded Grade A, which is the highest grade given by mountaineering institutes for search and rescue training.
The course was held from 6th to 28th March and Sungoh’s participation was sponsored by Meghalaya’s Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs.
Twenty-three participants from all over the country completed the training and they are ready to respond, rescue and rise to every challenge to assist the district authorities and other organisations, MeSCMA said in a press release yesterday. Sungoh was the only person from the North East and “his best performance and skills have impressed the institute and he has been elected to be a Guest Instructor for the coming courses in May 2025,” the release added.
Trainees are required to be physically and mentally fit and have a positive and adventurous attitude. This training is usually practised in high altitudes in the Himalayas that tend to include technical rope access on rocky cliffs, snow, glaciers, crevasses and knowledge of first aid, navigation, audio and visual communication signals and evacuation methods, including the use of helicopters to quickly extract casualties and dogs used to find casualties.
(Photo contributed)
