Emergency Response Team Search and Rescue (ERTSAR) is an

INSARAG The International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) is a network of disaster-prone and disaster-responding countries and organizations dedicated to urban search and rescue (USAR) and operational field coordination. It aims to establish s ...

listed international disaster response NGO

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

team, with bases in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Founding

ERTSAR was founded in the UK on 1 December 2002 as a non-profit

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

by Gary Foo and registered as a charity in England and Wales in 2004. The UK team was originally known as ''Oxfordshire Search And Rescue (OSAR)'', and subsequently renamed to ''Emergency Response Team Search And Rescue'' in 2006 to reflect the international disaster response work it was involved in. In 2011 the Canadian branch of ERTSAR was founded.

Purpose and Activities

ERTSAR was established to respond to emergencies and disasters and relieve suffering and distress among persons affected by hazards, risks, and major incidents across the globe. ERTSAR provides many programmes year round such as medical first responder services, community based and educational programmes, emergency services support, civil defence and civil protection services. ERTSAR also provides disaster risk reduction strategies, resilience, support, assistance and special event cover. ERTSAR is a UK national

DEFRA DEFRA may refer to: * Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 The Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (), also known as the DEFRA, was a federal law enacted in the United States in 1984. Originally part of the stalled Tax Reform Act of 1983, it was adjusted and re ...

Flood Response Team with a specialist rescue boat crew available to respond to any area of the country needing assistance in response to flooding incidents. Both the UK and Canadian teams are also available to be called out by the police in response to high-risk despondent missing person searches, utilising man-tracking and search dog capabilities. Specialist capabilities include USAR,

Swiftwater rescue Swift water rescue (also called "white water rescue") is a subset of technical rescue dealing in white water river conditions. Due to the added pressure of moving water, swift water rescue involves the use of specially trained personnel, ropes an ...

Technical rescue Technical rescue is the use of specialised tools and skills for rescue, including vehicle extrication, confined space rescue, rope rescue, trench rescue, structural collapse rescue, water rescue, and wilderness search and rescue. These often requ ...

and more.

Funding

The charity is run entirely by volunteers and as a

voluntary Voluntary may refer to: * Voluntary (music) * Voluntary or volunteer, person participating via volunteering/volunteerism * Voluntary muscle contraction See also * Voluntary action * Voluntariness, in law and philosophy * Voluntaryism, rejectio ...

organisation, relies on donations from the public and local businesses. In February 2016, ERTSAR received a grant for £17,713.60 from the Department For Transport's Inland Rescue Boat Grant Scheme for Water Rescue Services.

Deployments

ERTSAR has deployed internationally for major disasters such as Sri Lanka for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, to Pakistan for the

2005 Kashmir earthquake The 2005 Kashmir earthquake occurred at on 8 October in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad, and also affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Indian-administered Jammu an ...

, including several follow-up support and relief missions, the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's ca ...

and the

2010 Pakistan floods The floods in Pakistan began in late July 2010, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and, Balochistan regions of Pakistan, which affected the Indus River basin. Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's tota ...

. The team also mobilised and deployed in the UK for numerous call outs as a Civil Contingencies Responder such as in Oxfordshire for the

2007 United Kingdom floods A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across Scotland on 14 June; East Yorkshire and the Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, ...

and the Snow and Ice spell of 2010. The team also worked with Gloucestershire police in successfully locating

despondent Depression is a mental state of low mood and aversion to activity, which affects more than 280 million people of all ages (about 3.5% of the global population). Classified medically as a mental and behavioral disorder, the experience of ...

missing persons.ERTSAR work with Gloucestershire police locating missing family man
/ref> The UK team deployed its swift water rescue team for the flooding of November 2012 in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. The ERTSAR Canadian team deployed for a week in December 2012 to Staten Island, New York, to assist in the recovery efforts in the aftermath of super storm

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds span ...

. In November 2013, UK and Canadian team members deployed to the Philippines in response to

Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...

, the strongest storm ever recorded at landfall. The team provided medical aid and assistance, water purification and debris clearing to remote island communities. On December 5, 2013, the UK team deployed swift water rescue technicians and boat crews to Norfolk at the request of the National Fire Service via DEFRA in response to the tidal surge and severe storm flooding on the East coast of England.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official UK team website

Official Canadian team website
2010 Haiti earthquake relief Henley-on-Thames Organisations based in Oxfordshire Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom Volunteer search and rescue in the United Kingdom