United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team (UK-ISAR) is a search and rescue team from the
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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
that responds to humanitarian accidents or disasters on behalf of the UK Government. The current team structure is classified by the United Nations as a ‘Heavy USAR Team’ (urban Search and Rescue) under the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) guidelines.
Membership
UK-ISAR was founded in 1993, and now consists of volunteers from 15 fire and rescue services (FRSs). Each service contributes personnel and equipment when requested.
The current FRSs that provide UK-ISAR volunteers include:
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Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Search and Rescue Team
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...
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Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the English county of Cheshire, consisting of the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington. It operates 28 fire stat ...
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Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Hampshire, including the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, and the county of the Isle of Wight on the south coast of ...
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Kent Fire and Rescue Service
Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the administrative county of Kent and the unitary authority area of Medway, covering a geographical area south of London, to the coast and including major shipping route ...
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Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service which serves the ceremonial counties of Leicestershire and Rutland in England. The service's headquarters are in Birstall, Leicester.
History
The Leicestershire and Rutland ...
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Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue
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London Fire Brigade
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...
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Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS; gd, Seirbheis Smàlaidh agus Teasairginn na h-Alba) is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013. ...
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South Wales Fire & Rescue Service
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Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service
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West Midlands Fire Service
West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of West Midlands, England. The service is the second largest in England, after London Fire Brigade. The service has 38 fire stations, with a blended f ...
Capabilities
In line with United Nations guidelines, the entire national team are packed and ready to deploy to an affected country within 10 hours of an official request for assistance.
In addition to search and rescue operations, UK-ISAR support the UK Emergency Medical Team with logistical expertise for their bases when they are deployed.
Previous deployments
Over the last 25 years the team has successfully carried out search, rescue and relief missions in Iraq, Turkey, Algeria, Pakistan, India, Iran, Mozambique, Indonesia, Haiti, New Zealand, Japan, Bosnia and Nepal.
Members have also attended many international training exercises including Poland, Italy, USA, and Germany.
References
{{Reflist
Rescue agencies