Oxfordshire Search and Rescue Team seek members to assist with life saving services

Following a very busy July in which OxSAR’s volunteers were called out seven times in eighteen days to assist the Police in the search for vulnerable missing people, OxSAR are looking to increase it’s operational members. OxSAR hopes to recruit 15 new search technicians, to begin training with the unit in September. OxSAR is also looking to recruit non-operational members to assist with fundraising, administration and finances.

All training is delivered by experienced and operational members of OxSAR’s team. Search technician training involves learning search skills, missing person behaviour, navigation, first aid and radio use. Once new members are confident and competent in these areas they attend a weekend course to qualify as an operational search technician.

OxSAR are called out by Thames Valley Police when a vulnerable person goes missing. We work with the police to coordinate the search and manage the resources on the ground, usually within the first 24 hours of the person going missing. OxSAR has strong links with units in the surrounding counties and can arrange for a large number of highly trained searchers to be available to the police at any time of the day or night.

OxSAR are a member of the Association of Lowland Search and Rescue, who work alongside Mountain Rescue, Cave Rescue, the RNLI and Coastguard, to provide voluntary search and rescue services across the UK. As with all ALSAR units, OxSAR is managed and resourced purely by volunteers and although the unit work directly with the police on searches, OxSAR receives no form of statutory funding, donation or support, and is, therefore, reliant purely on public donation to support the vital, life saving service within the county.

To enquire about joining OxSAR, please contact Sarah Smith, personnel officer on sarah@oxsar.org.uk. For any other information about OxSAR, please contact Steve Butcher on steve@oxsar.org.uk.