Family Fundraising
The parents of Shaun Pearce recently held a fundraising dinner dance to help ASSAR as a thanks for saving him. Shaun Pearce was helped by ASSARs co-responder when he was trapped under a tractor with life-threatening injuries near the Chew Valley Lake.
Tony and Helen Court, Shaun’s parents, have run ‘fund raisers’ on behalf of the team. This year they held a ‘dinner dance’ in Shipham village hall, which was
hugely successful. The dinner dance was attended by five team members. A total of approximately £2000 was raised, the funds being shared with the Alzheimer’s society.
All members of ASSAR are extremely grateful for this fundraising effort and are pleased Shaun is well again.
Posted on 09 / 06 / 2014
ASSAR assist with technical rescue from Wells Cathedral
ASSAR was called today to assist with the technical rescue of a woman who had fallen and become trapped on the roof of Wells Cathedral. Full callout details are here. This image was taken by a member of ASSAR showing RAF Seaking 169 winching the injured woman to safety.
RAF Seaking above Wells Cathedral during the rescue of a trapped woman. Image courtesy: Alan George.
Posted on 29 / 04 / 2014
Swiftwater and Flood Rescue Technicians
For the past two weekends members of ASSAR have been training hard to gain their Swiftwater and Flood Rescue Technician status, for some this was a re-certification. We are pleased to announce that all passed.
The course covers a wide range of awareness and practical techniques including the following;
- swiftwater swimming techniques
- tethered rescues
- rope anchor systems
- tensioned rope techniques
- river and flood area search
Members of the team visited the National White Water Centre in North Wales to learn and practice the swiftwater techniques while staying in the North Somerset area for the rest. Our thanks to Mendip Outdoor Pursuits and Swallet Farm for providing the training venues.
The course is provided and certified by Rescue 3 Europe who are internationally recognised and form the core training for rescue teams and emergency services around the world. In the UK this particular course forms part of the Defra Flood Rescue Concept of Operations, follow this link to view the document https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-rescue-concept-of-operations
ASSARs Team Leader is a qualified Rescue 3 instructor, leading to a high level of understanding and awareness amongst the team, alongside the operational experience.
ASSAR Swiftwater Rescue Technicians
Posted on 14 / 04 / 2014
Navigation Awards
The great outdoors can be explored freely and safely when you know where you are, where you are going and how you’ll get there. Good navigation skills are important for enjoying any area of the countryside from urban fringe to mountains. Excellent navigation skills are crucial for members of search and rescue teams.
Each search party will have an allocated navigator but all members are expected to be able to navigate to a competent level. ASSAR members have adopted the National Navigational Award Scheme as a standard competency level. Several ASSAR members achieved their silver awards recently with other members and aspirants working towards their certification. Our thanks to ASSARs navigation trainers for organising the assessments.
ASSAR navigation assessment while enduring hail, sleet and snow around Mendip.
The Silver award syllabus is as follows:
- Devise a strategy for a navigational stage, to break it down into ‘coarse’ and ‘fine’ navigation and to use clear features en route to check that you are ‘on course’.
- Understand and apply the following components of a navigational strategy ‘aiming off’, ‘attack points’, ‘collecting features’, simplifying navigation, and apply them in varying terrain.
- Demonstrate an understanding of contour features, both large and small, on the map and on the ground.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the navigation physical and factors affecting route choice.
- Judge distance accurately on the map and on the ground.
- Plan a safe walk or route involving Silver award skills and strategies.
- Employ simple relocation strategies when lost.
- Use a compass to follow accurate bearings and to check the direction of footpaths or other linear features on both map and ground.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the effects of fatigue and physical discomfort brought on by navigating in demanding countryside and/or extreme weather condition. Knowledge of basic first aid is also expected.
- Demonstrate knowledge and application of the Countryside Code and current access legislation as for the Bronze level together with an appreciation of basic environmental factors in mixing ‘man with nature’ (e.g. footpath erosion and methods of dealing with it), and responsibilities towards other countryside interests like farming, forestry and conservation.
For more details visit the National Navigation Award Scheme website.
Posted on 10 / 02 / 2014
ASSAR Receives Donation from Incredible Fundraiser
ASSAR was privileged to receive a cheque from a very special fundraiser. Sarah Williams from http://www.smilingeyesinternational.co.uk has set
herself the challenge of completing 150 tasks to raise £150 for 150 different charities! To make this an even more incredible achievement Sarah is almost blind.
Sarah went white water rafting in Brecon, Wales to raise £150 which she very kindly donated to ASSAR. We will be using this money to help buy a flood raft to help with water rescues. Everyone in ASSAR would like to extend their thanks to Sarah and wish her well in her fundraising efforts.
Posted on 20 / 01 / 2014