The Staffordshire Searcher

The Staffordshire Searcher The Staffordshire Search and Rescue Team (SSART) magazine

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4-5

News From The Association of Lowland Rescue.

Coronavirus and SSART

Staffordshire duo take on kayaking challenge for SSART.

Comments from the Chairman/ Team Leader

Finances Donation of helmet visors from Future Safety

Page 6 - 7

Page 8

New Lease of life for ‘Charlie’

Fundraising

Members Updates

Sponsorship

AGM News

Team Training

Page 2 of 10

News From The Association of Lowland Rescue.

Our governing body which sits on the UK Governments UKSAR (United Kingdom Search and Rescue) committee alongside Coastguard, Mountain Rescue, Cave Rescue and the RNLI recently held their AGM.

Our national leadership is:

Chairman – Gareth Pritchard QPM Vice Chairman – Teresa Archer Secretary – Aileen Ohlson Treasurer – Lyndsey Donaldon-Selby Trustee – Noel Kerr Trustee – Sean McCarry Trustee – Andy Harrison MBE This AGM was held via Zoom which is an online meeting portal, voting was conducted prior to the meeting which seemed to go well and saved a lot of time on the day.

It looks like we have a strong leadership team and I especially like the diversity of the leadership with a substantial number of them being female.

Comments from the Chairman/ Team Leader Welcome to the first Staffordshire Searcher Newsletter which hopes to spread the news of the goings on within the team. I hope that current and past members, families of members, supporters and corporate sponsors all enjoy hearing about the team and how it is progressing.

This is currently a very challenging time for the team with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic it has thrown not only the team but the whole country a curve ball with which we need to discover new ways of working and adapt to our ‘new normal’.

I am really proud of how the team has managed to continue to operate through this pandemic, the team has pulled together and got on with problem solving the issues we have faced. We have seen the development of cyber-training and cyber-meetings, using the Microsoft Teams software, this has proven very useful and for some subjects arguable provided a much better learning experience. The infamous executive team meetings which have been known in the past to finish after 23:00 have now typically taken a little over an hour and with the glorious weather we have been having I have been able to enjoy the meetings in the garden with a nice refreshing beer.

In regards to the operational side of the team, we originally expected a high demand due to the predicted mental health issues association with the lockdown and the isolation and anxiety that it would cause. This however has not been the case and the team have only responded to two callouts since March both of these were ‘covid-19’ related incidents where people’s mental health had been affected by the lockdown and business worries.

Looking forwards, we have begun physical training with measures in place to help mitigate the risk of spreading the virus amongst the team and their families.

I hope you all keep safe and well, Rob Messenger

Chairman

To donate please visit: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/donation-web/charity?charityId=1017222

October 2020 Issue No 1

Finances Almost all of our fundraising revenues have dried up and stopped due to COVID-19.

This is terrifying as a non government funded charity we rely on charity boxes, supermarket collections and the kindness of the public and business.

We have initially been very lucky and we entered the pandemic with enough capital to operate the team for the next 12 months.

Recent SAR Fitness Test at Cannock Chase with our simplest control measures in place

Coronavirus and SSART

How we are managing it and the problems it presents

The team has restarted practical training having previously conducted training using Microsoft Teams which is an internet based video meeting platform.

It costs on average £25-30k a year to run the charity and in March we had just over £32k in the account.

Our operating costs are predominantly fuel, insurance and replacement/ maintenance of equipment.

Donation of helmet visors from Future Safety

We released a specific Standard Operating Procedure at the beginning of the pandemic which was specifically written for our operational duties this was shared with our immediate SAR neighbours such as Cheshire SAR, West Mercia SAR, Warwickshire SAR, Leicestershire SAR, Derby MR and Buxton MR. Non-emergency physical contact with team members was ceased with immediate effect and only These transparent visors began again in late July. will fit on team members The team is maintaining 2m social distancing between members as a standard helmets and enable them practice, we have been fortunate enough to have been donated PPE such as face to protect the public whilst masks and hand sanitizer as well as purchasing some at the beginning of the conducting SAR operations. pandemic. We have worn face-masks/coverings when we have been within 2m of This is a fantastic each other or within 2m of another person. donation for the team We have also had to look through our standard operation procedures and consider and we are truly greatful new ways of operating to ensure we limit the spread of Covid-19 through person to Future Safety Ltd – person contact and this is challenging but is necessary and the team has once again shown its ability to ‘think outside the box’ to manage this.

Initial thoughts in March was that we would become very busy as people become isolated and mental health is negatively impacted and we prepared for the sudden increase in calls, this did not happen and we only received two call outs between March and July both of which were related to the pandemic one of which unfortunately resulted in a fatality.

Looking forwards the team is likely to see further calls with the inevitable redundancies and financial pressures that people will experience, but as always our volunteers will remain ready to respond should we be requested.

Finally, we have been fortunate enough to have had no known cases of COVID-19 and some of our members have had to shield due to personal circumstances. We cannot wait to welcome them back, at a distance, to the team.

Page 3 of 10

Page 4 of 10

Staffordshire duo take on kayaking challenge for SSART.

Team members preparing a casualty for extrication using a buffalo™ bag and basket stretcher with wheel.

Remarkably, consid does not receive m bikers and climbers

Last year saw two c our skills up throug to respond to these

The team has specia thermal sleeping ba to reduce the manu and to increase the

This all started when Adam turned 50 and he decided he wanted to set himself a challenge.

They initially paddled the River Trent 100km route over 2 days.

For 2020 they decided to step it up a notch and run the Rover Trent 100km again but in 24 hours, and this time for us!

1

READY TO RESPOND To donate please visit: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/donation-web/charity?charityId=1017222

October 2020 Issue No 1

dering some of the terrain that the team covers, the team many calls to injured persons such as hikers, mountain s.

callouts of this type for the team which is why we keep gh regular training and drills to ensure that we are ready e incidents.

alist equipment to make this type of rescue easy such as ags (as seen in the image above), stretchers with wheels ual handling risk, speed up extrications to road heads comfort for the casualty during a carry off.

Page 5 of 10

Page 6 of 10 New Lease of life for ‘Charlie’ one of the teams Land Rovers Charlie as our Landrover is affectionately known has had a few health issues over the last few years and was becoming a concern for the team. With a little help from some friends we have invested quite a bit of money in Charlie and he is back to good health.

Charlie was gifted to the team to use by his owners Air & Ground, they were one of the teams first commercial sponsors and we have had Charlie at our disposal for over a decade.

The work on Charlie was carried out by the M&M Group in Stoke on Trent and they covered the cost of labour for the team meaning we just had to pay for the parts.

The work we have done to Charlie over the last year includes: •

New CV

•

New rear chassis

•

New suspension

•

Fitted anti roll bars (front & rear)

Charlie was gifted to the team to use by his owners Air & Ground. […]The work on Charlie was carried out by the M&M Group in Stoke on Trent and they covered the cost of labour

Members Updates As is the nature with volunteer organisations people come and go. Unfortunately we have a few people who have left the team recently.

SAM BURT who as well as being one of the teams ‘Party Leaders’ is a serving Sergeant in the Royal Air Force and has been deployed to Cyprus for the next few years. Sam has played a key part in the teams development since he joined us in 2014. He will still pop in to see us when he is home and we look forward to seeing him.

DAVID WRIGHT who is a stalwart member of the team, serving in many operational capacities but predominantly as one of the teams Search Managers, is hanging up his boots after 11+ years service. David was a school teacher and is a published author (making him one of the ‘clevererist’ on the team). He ran the teams navigation training, often found banging his head against a wall as the team is more unruly than any of the children he has ever taught. David or ‘Lefty’, as he is often called due to his surname (you can see why he kept banging his head now) single handedly ran our guest speaker programme and modestly deposits money with the treasurer on a weekly basis from his many talks with groups such as Freemasons, Lions, rotary, scouting and most often than not the Women’s Institute (we believe he loves a good piece of cake). David will now be enjoying time with family including his grandchildren who I am led to believe are much better looking and far better behaved than the team.

Finally, LEW LANE has retired from the team due to a house move to North Wales. Lew has been a valuable team member for quite a few years now following a career in the Fire Service. Lew will be joining MÔNSAR which is the Lowland Rescue team that covers the isle of Anglesey. So we wish Lew and family all the fortune in their new life in Wales and hope they keep in touch with the team.

To donate please visit: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/donation-web/charity?charityId=1017222

October 2020 Issue No 1

News from the Team’s AGM Firstly, I would like to thank the members of the Executive Committee for their work over the last 12 months, the extra responsibility and time that they give often goes unnoticed by normal team life which predominantly consists of regular Wednesday night training. I would particularly like to thank them for their mentorship and council in my first year of being the team’s Chairman.

This year was the first year in which we have held the AGM via Microsoft Teams which went well and without hiccup, much of which was due to Dawn’s preparation of the meeting.

We also saw the annual awards being issued to members with four 10 year awards being issued to Rob Messenger, Kirsty Messenger, Lucy Dean and Steve Hill.

“the Team Member of the Year Award being given to Bob McBey BEM for his above and beyond background support to the team”

The two jovial awards were also issued with the Team Member of the Year Award being given to Bob McBey BEM for his above and beyond background support to the team over the many years in regards to maintaining the equipment, base and vehicles. Rob Messenger also picked up the ‘Golden Boot’ award which celebrates the many great mistakes that we make as humans. On this occasion (Rob’s second golden boot) Rob had got a team vehicle stuck in deep mud on Cannock Chase whilst scouting a location for a training exercise and reluctant to radio the team for help out of fear of being nominated for a Golden Boot he tried in vane to free himself until some mountain bikers asked if he needed a hand. When the mountain bikers asked if he was on his way to an incident Rob didn’t confirm nor deny the reason he was there out of fear that the enthusiasm of the mountain bikers may be affected if they didn’t believe it to be urgent. The mistake however, was when Rob shared this experience with Joss and Will who as great friends told everyone and nominated him for the Golder Boot. This is the third time that the Messenger household has received the Golden Boot award which is where the award was first created many years ago.

The teams AGM leads to a change of Executive Committee The team have held the AGM and have appointed new officers in to roles on the exec committee.

The committee is now made up of the following: Chairman/Team Leader : Rob Messenger Deputy Chair / Deputy Team Leader : Helen Morning Secretary: Dawn Hopley Treasurer : Helen Presland Fundraising Off icer : Ian Cowie Personnel Off icer : Jim Rudman Public Relations Off icer : Nat Fowler Training Off icer : Matt Ryder Equipment Off icer : Vacant Clinical Lead: Paul Weatherill

Team Member of the Year Bob McBey BEM

Rob Messenger (right) receiving the Golden Boot in 2016 from former Team Chairman Paul Keen

Page 7 of 10

Page 8 of 10

The SAR Dogs are back to Training The search and rescue dogs have also returned to training and our own dogs are due to be re-assessed this year. The re-assessment was due in April but was postponed due to the pandemic, therefore it will be held later in the year.

The assessments will see SAR dog handlers from across Britain come to Staffordshire to independently assess the dogs to the NSARDA national standards.

The dogs will be assessed searching a variety of terrain from urban environments, rural environments such as farmland and moorland environments. The search areas have a random number of volunteers hiding within the defined search areas and the dogs will need to sniff them out working in a close relationship with their handlers.

The number of people hiding within the areas differs due to the preference of the assessors and the volunteers have got very good at hiding (image below).

‘Red’ looking a bit dryer after successfully finding one of this years student intake on Cannock Chase during the latest training session

Full grade SAR dog ‘Penny’ looking a little wet

One of the teams volunteer ‘dogs bodies’. When they aren’t snoozing they can typically be seen with a flask.

To donate please visit: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/donation-web/charity?charityId=1017222

October 2020 Issue No 1 1

Negotiation Training for the operational team members Continuous Professional Development comes in all forms, and we were very lucky to have Inspector Jon Staite from Staffordshire Police’s Negotiating Team talking about approaching and helping despondent and suicidal people.

As you can imagine this is a highly sensitive area of our work.

Jon very kindly shared his experiences and knowledge of many years of helping people in very difficult circumstances.

Our thanks and huge respect to Jon and his team based across Staffordshire.

On a lighter note, and as a way of saying thank you, we knew there was one way we could repay Jon, and that was with a high quality Pork Pie.... thanks Jon, and we hope you enjoy the gift!

Here’s Lucy Young, one of our Search Technicians with Jon, and Alan McEntire our Deputy Chairman 1

Lowland Rescue Bandanas from Giraffe UK Giraff e UK have introduced a range of 12 bandanas featuring Lowland Rescue and SAR logos.

Visit https://giraffeuk.com/lowlandrescue for more details

1

Search & Rescue Coffee from Frontline Coffee Their story roasting fresh coffee so far.

Founded in 2018, we are a firefighter run and owned coffee company roasting speciality coffee supporting frontline charities. We have raised over £15,000 for charities that support the people of our emergency and health services so far and strive to become a valuable fundraising asset to these charities as we continue to grow.

Their Mission To support frontline charities, financially and through awareness of the services they offer.

There is currently a stock of Frontline filter coffee bags in the brew kit.

Visit https://frontlinecoff ee.co.uk/products/search-and-rescue for more details

Page 9 of 10

Fundraising The team is funded entirely through donations from the public and local businesses, so when we are not on a call out or training, we are kept busy raising essential funds throughout the year to keeping the team operational.

The Team are would like to here from you if you have an event that we could attend to raise awareness to the work we do while raising funds towards our annual costs.

Please contact: Ian Cowie at i.cowie@ssart

Supporters

Upcoming Events

Next Issue Nullorro tendi rectur, occae pligendit harion nos eostiunt, quam, suntur susdamusci dest quam alitat faccus eum vent.

Epudant exceperio omnis nus niet everempos ut fuga. Um quam ut pedit quatiam, occabore, testrum sa vendandit est facipsum in estiae commo voluptur simaximincti voluptio blacerum et dunt.

Keep up to date with what we’re doing: SSART Website SSART Facebook Page NSARD Search Dog Facebook Page Follow us onTwitter