100% volunteer; 100% professional – our January talk, from London Search and Rescue
London is a huge city of roughly 35,000 acres, with one of the greenest and densest city centres. London Search and Rescue goes out looking for vulnerable people.
Staffed by volunteers, London Search and Rescue is part of Lowland Rescue, started in Northern Ireland. Here in London, it works through the Metropolitan Police, often in collaboration with other services. Based in Hayes, it has operational bases in fire stations across the capital.
The 140 volunteers are people who work full time, have flexible jobs, NHS people, retired police and military service people, in operational, trustee and support roles. By 2027 the ambition is to have 500 volunteers.
Training takes 10 days over five weekends, in Kent and various relevant sites across London. Knowledge and skills are renewed regularly.
Each team has a minimum of four people, usually five, with team leader, a medic and radio operator.
Dog handlers might have ground-scent or air-scent dogs, they sometimes train together and on operations, they need someone to be dog assist – because the dog needs a break for playtime. Or sometimes, police will bring their dogs.
The bike team has electric bikes.
Paddlecraft work in rivers, canals and lakes but not the Thames, which has its own patrols, apart from a particular section.
The drone team has to have permission to operate. With heat-sensitive cameras, it is useful in areas that are hard to get at, for instance bramble.
London Search and Rescue can get to places that are tricky for an ambulance and keep people alive for long enough for help to get there. The search technicians' job is to be compassionate – there's an escalation process for specialist help and support when a search is upsetting.
For navigation, teams use What3Words, grid references and maps on phones but a compass is still essential.
As well as searches, London Search and rescue also helps at big events such as the Lady Mayor's Parade and provides a presence along the river.
London Search and Rescue is funded entirely by charitable donations. Though it's volunteer run and crewed, there are training, kit, equipment, vehicle and operational costs that all have to be fundraised for.
Questions included how diverse the volunteer cohort is – very diverse, we were told and people can take their experience into their communities.
How do people get to a search at night? For volunteers who don't drive, lifts – including from other volunteers who spot them on the way to a callout.
Is there an age limit, we asked? Well, for search 65 because of insurance but there are support roles available.
We were talked through the kit: jacket, high vis jacket, load-bearing vest, lights, spare batteries, notebooks, map, basic medical kit and water. We even discussed the colour of uniforms because of human reaction to colours associated with particular services.
A huge East End WI thank you to search technicians Mairead, Dominic and Leonard from London Search and Rescue. Find out more here.
Monthly coffee and catch-up – Young V&A
Friday 23rd January, meet between 10.30 and 11.00
A return to an old favourite, the café at the former Museum of Childhood. Nearest tube Bethnal Green or buses along Cambridge Heath Road.
Pictures by Lydia
