Nick Searle, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
As the Strategic Lead of both National Resilience and UK ISAR, I take great pride in reflecting on the remarkable achievements of UK ISAR.
Having been a former team member myself, I understand the dedication and effort required to be part of this highly effective team. The strong foundations laid by the founders have enabled us to continually progress and excel. Recent deployments to Turkey, Malawi and Morocco showcased our team’s exceptional skills and agility, playing pivotal roles in saving lives and providing crucial support to affected communities.
UK ISAR is supported by volunteers from 14 Fire and Rescue Services, with support from volunteers in organisations outside of UK Fire & Rescue Services including dedicated medical teams, structural engineers, canine teams, and vets, under the Lead Authority arrangements of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. We operate under the Emergency Deployable Team program, funded by the FCDO, delivering life-saving assistance globally with remarkable efficiency. The trust placed in us by the FCDO speaks volumes about our professionalism and effectiveness.
The team’s rapid development, diverse composition, and unwavering commitment illustrate our dedication to innovation, self-sustainability, and environmental stewardship in disaster response.
With 30 years of experience and support from organisations like the United Nations and INSARAG, UK ISAR stands as one of the world’s premier rescue teams. Our ongoing efforts, including aid convoys to Ukraine, demonstrate our continuous commitment to humanitarian work, transcending geographical boundaries UK ISAR is a team of highly trained personnel and equipment that come together for International Search and Rescue.
The team responds rapidly to humanitarian emergencies including earthquakes, floods, and wildfires internationally on behalf of the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
Russ Gauden, UK ISAR National Coordinator, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
Over the past three decades, UK ISAR has established itself as the premier international search and rescue team, and official UK Government response through the EDT2 on behalf of and funded by the FCDO.
UK ISAR is renowned for its expertise, dedication, and unwavering commitment to saving lives in the most challenging situations and speed to deploy across the globe and ready to mobilise within a 6–10-hour time window from a designated national point of departure. The ability to do this has been honed over the last 30 years.
I am immensely proud to be the UK ISAR National Coordinator to lead on behalf of the lead authority, representing UK Government Internationally within INSARAG, working closely with the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service principal officer team, national resilience and with the dedicated service leads through their appointed coordinators..
This team is like no other and it’s a real honour to have spent over twenty years involved at every level within the UK ISAR family.