Memorandum by the UK Lowland Search Institute
(UKLSI) (SAR 01)
THE SEARCH AND RESCUE INQUIRY
ABOUT UKLSI
1. The UK Lowland Search Institute (UKLSI)
[1]is
an informal voluntary organisation drawing its members from Association
of Lowland Search and Rescue (ALSAR) [2]and
Lowland Search Dogs (LSDogs) [3]teams,
coming together to provide training and research in lowland search.
Lowland search can be defined as the search for vulnerable missing
persons, such as despondents, dementia sufferers and children,
and other such "land-based and inland water search and rescue
operations co-ordinated by the police."
SUMMARY OF
MEMORANDUM
2. Whilst UKLSI understands the committee's
wish to focus on maritime search and rescue as most relevant to
the responsibilities of the Department of Transport, we believe
that it is impossible to limit, or to differentiate, search operations
in this manner. This memorandum will outline the multi-natured
remit of many SAR organisations, the inter-agency interactions
during many SAR operations and the need for greater co-ordination,
funding and research for UK SAR, as a whole.
SCOPE OF
THE INQUIRY
3. The Transport Committee's own Report,
The Work of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (HC500) published
in July 2004, and the Government response to this report, both
highlighted the increasing number of incidents dealt with by the
MCA and other maritime SAR organisations of suicide and recovered
bodies.
4. These incidents may, or may not, have
resulted from a police-led vulnerable missing person search. Vulnerable
missing persons searches in any region of the UK that is near
to the coastline will necessarily entail the use of both inland
and maritime SAR resources. Such resources may include teams from
Mountain Rescue (MR), ALSAR, LSDogs, and the Search and Rescue
Dog Association (SARDA) working alongside the Royal National Lifeboat
Institution (RNLI) and Auxiliary Coastguard Service. All these
resources would be deployed to try to locate, and then recover,
should the need arise, the vulnerable missing person.
5. It is inevitable that a number of these
types of search will end in fatalities and the need to recover
a body. The UK study into missing person behaviour[4]
being carried out by another charity, The Centre for Search Research,
indicates that 34% of searches for despondents end in a fatality,
and 18% of searches for "vulnerables", a category which
includes dementia sufferers. In the US studies have shown up to
55% of despondent searches end in the recovery of a fatality.
6. These studies also highlight the areas
where despondents are likely to go to commit suicide. Indicators
such as beauty spots, scenic location, overlooking water and solitary
are all highlighted in most studies into missing person behaviour
for despondents. Much of the coastline around the UK fits these
criteria and can be said to be a "magnet" for despondents—a
likely point for suicide. Therefore any Inquiry into SAR operations
dealing with the coastline must, in our belief, also look at vulnerable
missing persons searches, and the SAR organisations that deal
with these, both statutory and voluntary.
7. Inland SAR organisations might also be
involved in searches with a transport connection when dealing
with major incidents involving means of transport, such as air
and rail. Whilst a high-altitude break-up of an aircraft over
the sea would obviously require a maritime SAR response, the same
incident over land would require a land-based response, again
from either the MR and SARDA, or their lowland counterparts, ALSAR
and LSDogs, or a combined response from both with or without support
from maritime resources. Historically, Lockerbie was the biggest
use of land-based SAR resources the UK has ever seen.
8. Search resources might also be used during
and following major incidents such as train crashes in rural locations.
The recent high-speed crash near Reading saw search resources
from Thames Valley Police deployed to search the area around the
crash site for potentially injured "walk-aways". Whilst
this type of incident is obviously not within the scope of this
Inquiry it highlights the need for strategic thinking for UK SAR
as a whole, and how different organisations and Government Departments
can be drawn together during major incidents and their use of
SAR resources.
SEARCH AND
RESCUE CO
-ORDINATION
9. Search and Rescue in the UK has a number
of definitions, organisations and lead bodies. Whilst this Inquiry
is aiming to look at what could be defined loosely as maritime
SAR, we have hopefully highlighted how this cannot be divorced
from the type of search devoted to vulnerable missing persons,
what we would loosely call lowland search. Other SAR organisations
exist to cover SAR on the mountains, SAR in caves and mines, urban
SAR following natural disasters and building collapse and more.
Whilst each has their own specialised skills and resources, each
has many similarities and many similar issues. Likewise certain
incidents require the use of resources from many different types
of SAR organisation.
10. The Home Office Fire Service Inspectorate
recently worked with various disaster dog teams to set up the
National Urban Search and Rescue Dog Group. Whilst their intention
was to assist the fire service to deliver their "New Dimension"
and a capability to provide Urban SAR in the UK along the way
they found a need for both dogs capable of collapsed structure
work, and those for open areas. This meant that search dog teams
from non-disaster SAR teams were also able to assist in their
work. Many such links exist in the "SAR community" with
many teams providing a multi-natured response depending on the
incident to which they are called. We would suggest, with the
ever-decreasing numbers of volunteers, that in future other SAR
resources might also be deployed around the coastline utilising
high-angle rescue skills learnt for a different purpose to assist
the coastguard in their duties.
11. This is obviously one reason why the
UK SAR Operators Group has such a varied membership and provides
UK SAR with the only formal strategic link between the various
SAR bodies and organisations. It is our belief that this link
should be strengthened, and that its continued expansion into
land-based SAR operations should be encouraged by this committee.
12. Tactical and Operational co-ordination
of SAR resources during operations depends greatly on the incident.
This is very alike to the UK's disaster response, with a lead
body taking on the co-ordination role utilising the skills of
Integrated Emergency Management to resolve the incident assisted
by the other emergency organisations. During any SAR operation
a lead body, be it MCA or Police, depending on the nature of the
incident, will co-ordinate the response bringing in any resources
that might assist.
13. The United States has operated, Incident
Command System (ICS), for a number of years for the co-ordination
of their emergencies, whereby all incidents are co-ordinated in
a similar fashion, using similar terminology and paperwork, including
all SAR incidents. This has recently been joined by their National
Incident Management System—which includes the "typing"
of resources and funding in the way of grants based upon this.
14. It is not our belief that the UK requires
any new system of management or co-ordination of incidents, including
SAR operations. However, much work could be done on recognising
the various SAR resources available and providing strategic leadership,
and funding, as has been done in the US.
VOLUNTARY NATURE
OF SAR RESOURCES
15. A vulnerable missing person search carried
out by the coast by the police would entail the use of some police
resources—although mostly police constables with no search
training at all, and quite possibly the use of a SAR or Police
Helicopter. This would then be supplemented by ALSAR and LSDogs
resources, Auxiliary Coastguard Service resources and RNLI resources—all
volunteers providing their time freely, and in most cases the
resources too.
16. We are not aware of any statistics that
are kept of the number of such searches etc. Charities such as
ALSAR cannot afford the costs of managing such statistics and
are wary of the implications of doing so under Data Protection
Laws. However, from figures we do know we can predict it happens
on a regular basis and saves the taxpayer countless thousands
and tens of thousands every incident. A brief look at the Kent
SAR website[5]
and their callouts will illustrate the number of vulnerable missing
person callouts that end on the coastline—"rescued
from cliff", "found on beach", "found dead
. . . in sea".
17. This dependence on voluntary organisations
for the UK's SAR capability is not unusual—however, it is
important that the implications of this are noted. Many SAR organisations
struggle for funding; volunteers' time—better used for training—is
taken up with fund-raising and other such duties. It has an effect
also on equipment and resources, and on the amount of inter-agency
training that can be undertaken.
IMPROVEMENTS
18. SAR prevention is rightly highlighted
in the Committee's last Report. However, reflecting on the nature
of many of the incidents, especially those of a vulnerable missing
persons nature, thought should be given to the nature of such
prevention. It may well be the successful campaign to reduce the
number of deaths through drug overdose, by limiting the number
of tablets in a packet, has increased the number committing suicide
around our coastline, and by other methods inland. Perhaps this
should be researched. What definitely needs greater attention
is how to deal with such search incidents, learning through the
sort of missing person behaviour studies that are going on throughout
the SAR community, whether the incident is on the coastline or
inland. This was highlighted in Charlie Hedges' research funded
by the Home Office under the Police Research Award Scheme; "There
is scope for further research to understand the behaviour of missing
persons and to examine the potential for guiding investigations".[6]
19. SAR pre-planning, especially for the
sort of multi-agency search that will happen in a coastal vulnerable
missing person search, is a must. It is an irony that major incident
planning and training for such multi-agency incidents is well
funded and exercised, yet the more frequent SAR incident is not
funded or exercised, and relies more on volunteers.
December 2004
1 More information on UKLSI can be found online at
www.uklsi.org.uk. Back
2
More information on ALSAR can be found online at www.alsar.org.uk. Back
3
More information on LSDogs can be found online at www.lsdogs.org.uk. Back
4
The UK Missing Person Behaviour Study, accessed online, 12/12/04,
at http://www.searchresearch.org.uk/ukmpbs. Back
5
Accessed online, 12/12/04, at http://www.emergencyrescue.com/sar44.htm. Back
6
Missing You Already, A guide to the investigation of missing
persons, Charlie Hedges, Home Office. Back
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