Water Safety and Search Training
25/08/10 ‘Move out into the flow until you feel the tug of the water then sit into it and assume your defensive swimming position’. Let’s be clear, the water wasn’t about to tug me it was about to rip my legs from under me and throw me down swirling rapids with menacing rocks looming under every crest.
This is worst case scenario. None of us want to be in the water on a search but if the worst happens we have to know how to deal with it. As a Search and Rescue organisation we have water in our patch which we sometimes have to search near. It is fast becoming a pre-requisite for members to go through the water
awareness training. Call-outs to assist with flood related incidents are on the increase for mountain rescue related teams. We’d already spent an evening of water awareness training, looking at the hydrology ofwater courses. This day in the River Wye, covered bankside safety and two days in Salcombe will follow up with flood searching.
I was in the worst case scenario now, albeit with two Swiftwater Rescue Technicians on hand to make sure my scenario was resolved smoothly and safely. I was literally swept away by the force of the water. The drysuit, life-jacket and helmet lull you into a false sense of security. Being swept away dispels this feeling, leaving you powerless. Until your defensive swimming technique kicks in.
Relax. Don’t fight the current. Feet downstream. Shoulders down to lift your hips and feet to the surface. Legs bent to absorb the oncoming rocks. Look for the safe eddy areas. Don’t waste energy. Ferry drift yourself to get some control. Back stroke your arms like its going out of fashion. Act all serene in the safety of the eddy.
That’s self-saving. We search in teams following the principle of look after Self, Team, Individual in that order. Doing it effectively is the difference between ‘searching’ and ‘looking’. The ‘searcher’ searches, the ‘search leader’ watches the searcher from as safe a place as possible maintaining communications with the ‘back-up’. The ‘back-up’ is downstream with a throw line. This is how to look after a team so they can search. It’s labour intensive and it takes time.
The ‘searcher’s’ tripped and gone in. Two blasts on the whistle. The ‘back-up’ knows to look upstream at
this signal. Four laps of the rope across one hand (never coiled around the hand in this scenario as the
back-up doesn’t want to be dragged in) the rest of the floating rope is stowed in its bag. Floating searcher spotted. ‘ROPE! ROPE! TAKE THE ROPE!‘ The throw line is deployed. Straight into the V-shaped arms,
which they can do because they’re in a defensive swimming posture. The back-up braces. Using a pendulum effect created by the current, the searcher is swept sideways into a safe eddy area alreadyidentified by the back up.
Avon and Somerset has a whole variety of water courses. Some fast flowing, some slow, many with built structures and a huge number in built up areas. Add floods to this mix just to make things really complicated. This is where we move from the centre ground of people willing and able to be found and rescued to the far reaches of the Search and Rescue spectrum where people are unable and in the case of some potentially despondent casualties, unwilling to be found or rescued. Following our principles, supported by thorough, professional and extensive training, we are an effective Search and Rescue organisation.
Posted on 25 / 08 / 2010
Emergency Services Working Together
10/08/10 Avon & Somerset Search and Rescue are an emergency service staffed by volunteers. It’s important that we work alongside the emergency services to raise awareness of our joint roles and to raise vital funds. We often attend shows with our information trailer to demonstrate techniques and talk to the
visitors. We received this letter of thanks from Avon Fire and Rescue after the Blagdon Emergency Services Show. If you would like us to attend an event please contact enquiries@ascrt.com
Posted on 10 / 08 / 2010
Praise for a Precarious Find II
10/08/10 The following letter of thanks was received by A&S SAR from Detective Superintendent Sarah Crew in regards to a call-out on 11/07/10 ASC Log No 1210:
I would like to pass my organisation’s thanks to Duncan Massey, Pete Sadler and the rest of the team who assisted in the search and rescue of [casualty] on 11 July this year.
[casualty], who is 80 years old and suffers from dementia, had tried to walk down Bridge Valley Road, Clifton. However, he walked off the path and into undergrowth and subsequently fell down the cliff edge near the Observatory.
He remained undiscovered for two days despite the best efforts of the Force helicopter and Support Groups.
Avon and Somerset Search and Rescue Team were contacted and deployed without hesitation. After 3 hours the team, led by Mr Massey, located [casualty] curled up in heavy undergrowth, severely dehydrated and with serious cuts to his face.
Without the intervention of your team, [casualty] would not have survived a third night missing. In addition, the way he was handled and given assistance, primarily by Pete Sadler, had a major factor in [casualty] recovering.
I am pleased to say [casualty] was released from hospital this week having made a full recovery. His family are very grateful to have him restored to them. Without the intervention and professionalism of your team, this may not have happened.
Please accept the thanks of Bristol Policing District and the Avon and Somerset Constabulary.
Sarah Crew
Detective Superintendent
Head of Bristol CID
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Posted on 10 / 08 / 2010
Raising Funds and Reducing Landfill
05/08/10 Avon & Somerset Search and Rescue have launched a campaign to try and raise part of the £15000 per year that is required to run a search and rescue team.
A&S SAR have teamed up with www.recycle4charity.co.uk to collect and recycle old mobile phones and printer cartridges.
For every item that is collected and sent in, the team receive a donation. The service is provided at no cost to us as a charity, and the process of donating phones and printer is as simple as visiting the website and requesting a freepost envelope.
Alternatively, individuals, companies and organisations can request free collection boxes and posters. When these are full, collection is arranged free of charge by courier.
If you would like to support the team, dig around in your drawers and cupboards for those old or broken mobile phones, chargers and used printer cartridges, pop them in an envelope and send them off. To request an envelope or collection box, please click here or click on our Donate page
Posted on 05 / 08 / 2010
Working Together To Get Great Results
David Whiting, Chief Executive of the Great Western Ambulance Service produces a weekly briefing for the service. Members of A&S SAR and three recent incidents featured in the July 15 edition. These incidents involved Police and Ambulance services all working together with the A&S SAR team and the Community First Responders we provide, with very positive outcomes for the patients we find, look after and care for.
CFR, SAR and GWAS work together to get great results
Duncan Massey a community first responder (CFR) from West Harptree in Gloucestershire is also a member of the Avon Search and Rescue (SAR) team and last weekend he was impressed by GWAS staff whilst on duty in both guises:
On Sunday 11 July Duncan was called out by the SAR team to support a search for a missing 81 year old male on Clifton Downs. The gentleman was found near to the cliff top on a ledge. GWAS Paramedic Pete Sadler is also a voluntary member of the SAR team and as the first clinician on scene he impressed Duncan with his professionalism. Duncan also expressed praise for Clare and Lee who were dealing with the incident within the GWAS control room. The police Chief Superintendent who was leading the operation asked Duncan to also pass on his thanks, and indeed that of the family, to GWAS and commended all involved on the great team work.
That same day Duncan (Alan George and other members of the team were in attendance) was unfortunate enough to have been on scene when a car burst into flames on the A38 near Felton on the outskirts of Bristol. Duncan would like to thank Clare and Lee who were once again dealing with this incident in the GWAS control room. Duncan says; “Thanks please to EOC for all their support, we really do rely on them, and they always seem so calm and willing to help which is great for morale!”
It should be noted that thanks to Duncan’s fast and brave efforts the occupant of the car only suffered relatively minor burns which he was treated for at the BRI.
Duncan Massey, also found himself praised as a Community First Responder (CFR) in the same briefing:
EMD praised
Ann Sinnett (Avon EMD) has been thanked by a grateful lady in Chew Magna after Ann ensured the right care reached her poorly friend. The friend had collapsed at a party and Ann took the 999 call. Ann dispatched a local CFR as the nearest and quickest resource. The caller thought that Ann was ‘very helpful’ and provided great support and advice throughout the incident. The lady was ‘very impressed by the whole system’ and thought that the service was ‘brilliant’. The CFR successfully treated the friend on scene and a trip to hospital was avoided.
Posted on 22 / 07 / 2010