Years ago, I was looking for some way of volunteering my time to a good cause but was stuck with which option to go for as there are a few out there if you take the time to look. Soup kitchens, Samaritans, Territorial Army, litter picking to name a few. I wanted to do something that would help people and be outside, which eventually led me to choose Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue. I could feel like a superhero rescuing people and at the same time get rained on in the famously fantastic British weather. The problem was at the time of looking, it appeared that years had gone by since their website had been updated. Regardless of that I sent them a message expressing my interest in joining them with no response. A chaser email went unanswered and I am sorry to say I didn’t message any of the others and the momentum was lost.
When I moved down to Dorset last year, and not knowing anyone in the area, I looked for something to do outside of work. Having not paid Lowland Rescue a thought in years, it came to mind again. A quick Google search later showed that Dorset did have a Lowland Rescue team, DorSAR, and were reasonably active with their call-outs, fundraising presence and website updates. This time I got a response to my email and a registration form attached to document my interest in the recruitment evening that was held in September. There were about twenty of us that turned up to the evening where they went through who DorSAR were, what they did and how they went about doing it. Lowland Rescue is completely funded by donations and everyone involved from the search technicians to the fundraising team are all volunteers, spending their free time to either fundraise or search for vulnerable missing people. The members that would be training us would be taking time out of their lives to put us through our paces. Training started a two weeks later and eleven of us turned up.
Training consisted of several modules including search techniques, manual handing, communications, water management, navigation, fitness and first aid. Many of these have additional levels that can be obtained once you become operational such as Tracking, Tier D Medic, All Terrain fitness and joining the Swift Water team which is my desired trajectory. We had one or two sessions a week during the evenings and weekends across a month and a half. All leading up to our assessment on the 9th of November.
The assessment was a full day. We started at 9am and didn’t leave until around 10.20pm but lunch and dinner were provided along with squash, tea, coffee and biscuits. The day started with us demonstrating that we could use a selection of search techniques to find “stolen” hard drives in the local area in two different teams. The rain was hammering down for this exercise and my waterproofs were ok for a moderate shower but past their prime and not up to the challenge of the apocalypse we were experiencing. It was good mental and emotional conditioning because if you could search in those conditions, you could search in any. You didn’t get extra points for finding a hard drive as the main focus was on your method of searching and teamwork, but it wouldn’t hurt if you did find one…. I found one! After lunch and a vain attempt to dry out our kit we were sent off to look for a Misper, a missing person. This used different search methods and while this was a “misper-focused” exercise we also had to be “clue conscious”. Looking for articles that could have been dropped, left or abandoned by the individual such as bottles, bags, clothes or other personal articles. My ego was put in check by missing a mobile phone in the bushes. After finding our Misper’s mate camping out it was back for dinner and one-on-one questions from a member of the training team. New intel came through of a possible location of our missing person so we adorned our wet kit one last time for the night time woodland search. More search techniques were showcased and as we got through more and more of our search area it became obvious that the training team had put what we were looking for on the border of our search area and the other team’s, giving us both a chance to find it. The ego was boosted again when I found it! I don’t do well with scary films and being put in the woods at night was never going to be my favourite thing. Seeing a clothed manakin hanging from a tree did little to stop my mind thinking we were in a teen slasher flick. Our team medic checked our misper for signs of life and when the other team arrived, we packed him up and headed back to base. We changed into some dry clothes and the training team let us know we passed, which was great. We finished with certificates and a team photo. To remain operational, I need to keep my competencies up to date with training. Different competencies have different expiration dates so need to keep an eye on them all.
Since qualifying as a Search Technician, I have attended three call outs. None of them had happy endings. Callouts can happen at any time. People who tend to go missing often don’t make appointments that are best for those who would go out and find them, and I’ve been unable to attend several callouts due to work or being away. Some have been on the other side of the county. There have been a few callouts where we have been stood down just as I was ready to attend or sat in the car setting the sat-nav. There was one where I saw the callout just after waking up, rushed out and only saw that they were stood down hours before when I turned up to the RV point and no one else was there. Apart from that blunder on my part I’m really enjoying it and looking forward to progressing towards the water team. With the recent floods around our Kingdom I feel it will be a beneficial skill for the future.
It is generally not the greatest of circumstances that we come together but everyone I have met so far in the team is there for the right reasons and are a good laugh. I’m not sure how I will cope if I’m ever part of a team that finds a missing person in a state less than savoury but there is support available for those who do. If you want to do something rewarding, learn some new skills and get some fresh air I could not think of a better way to spend your time and would encourage you to join your local search and rescue service.
