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UKISAR

UK International Search and Rescue

Indonesia Earthquake – 30th September 2009 

Disasters and accidents can happen at any time and anywhere in the world, often without warning. There is a need for professional teams that can deploy rapidly and undertake effective search and rescue operations.

When the opportunity came up to be part of The United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team (UK ISAR), a team that is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to a disaster anywhere in the world, I had no hesitation to put myself forward.

A team of UK Search and Rescue experts were sent to Indonesia by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) to help survivors of the Padang earthquake following the two consecutive earthquakes of 30 September and 1 October, 11 districts across Western Sumatra were affected with Padang (pop 900,000) and Pariaman (pop 70,000) the worst affected.

As far as I was concerned, a team had already left the U.K. from Gatwick airport so was I surprised to receive a phone call on Friday morning at 00:15 asking me to leave for Indonesia straightaway. Apparently one of my teammates fell sick and there was an opportunity for me to catch the delayed flight which had been delayed due to a hydraulic fault. A frantic 10mins packing, off to West Midland Fire Service HQ in Birmingham where transport had been arranged. The transport turned out to be a personal Police escort all the way to Gatwick airport in the back of a black BMW unmarked police car, blue lights flashing all the way.

At Gatwick Airport we were told “The aircraft cannot be fixed” but following what a DFID spokesman called “a day of intense activity searching for an alternative aircraft”, another airplane was located, and the flight departed carrying:

  • A 63 strong UK search and rescue team (including 2 dogs), plus a DFID liaison officer, and search and rescue equipment.
  • A 2-person DFID humanitarian assessment team and a Shelter expert for the aid agency Care.
  • 386 shelter kits and 2 million water purification tablets to be consigned to Save the Children. 
The flight landed in Padang and the team unloaded the plane into eight trucks, two coaches, and one Land Cruiser and left the airport for an area called Agus Salim where we set up camp.
The camp was to become the base of operation and working along with the Australian search and rescue teams, 3 teams were immediately deployed to The Daihatsu car sales building, the Koto Timor district, and areas north up to the town of Baso. 
The UK Search & Rescue teams went into collapsed buildings where bodies still lay and carried out search and rescue work at the scenes of big mudslides.
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Firefighters searched the valley but hopes of finding survivors were dashed after a British sniffer dog with Dog handler John Ball found no trace of “life scents”. 
They carried out search and rescue missions for the first 24 hours, working closely with Australian rescue teams, before the Indonesian authorities reluctantly agreed no more lives could be saved, amid the widespread destruction and efforts were switched from lifesaving to providing aid and restoring critical services. 
The UK search & Rescue teams distributed relief items supplied by the Department of International Development including 386 tents and two million water purification tablets. On departure, UKSAR donated their consignment of food, large Search and Rescue tents, and generators to “Save The Children Fund” for use as storage space.
You see films of places in earthquakes on TV, but some of the scenes we saw were quite eye-opening – to see it actually in front of you is a different thing. There were the damaged buildings and further afield, where the volcanoes were, there were lots of mudslides which had covered villages. I was proud to be given the opportunity to do my little bit and was proud to work alongside all the 63 UK Firefighters who went to Indonesia.