January 2024
Team members have recently completed a week-long course in Sweden, with a second team following suit immediately after the first.
The aims of the course were to expose UK ISAR team members to extreme cold conditions and to train them in personal survival skills and extensive wide area search operations.
The course objectives included practicing conventional map reading and GPS navigation techniques, introducing new wide area search protocols, and exercising casualty evacuation procedures.
Additionally, the teams worked on erecting a Base of Operations (BoO) and developing the optimal configuration for successful search and rescue outcomes.
Training encompassed various areas, including cold weather personal and team preparedness, navigation, survival skills, tracking, shelter building, fire lighting, signaling, and search operations in snow/ice conditions.
Teams spent four days in the field, during which they expertly constructed temporary shelters for overnight stays in temperatures as low as -15°C, as shown in the below image. All team members will have the opportunity to complete cold weather training.