About the AssociationHow we operate around the UK

The Association is the governing body for all Lowland Rescue teams in the UK, and works with our stakeholders to produce the only nationally accredited missing-person search standards in the UK.

Our members are trained in search techniques which are each developed from academic research by worldwide scholars. Every member of our teams is trained to use their full senses to maximise the chances of finding a missing-person as quickly as possible.

Our techniques vary greatly from Police line-searching, and our members are often seen walking faster, farther apart and using specific patterns of visual search. All of our member teams have Search Management capabilities which are amongst the best in the world. We have access to data and research from around the world, and mapping systems from Ordnance Survey which are second to none.

Our teams are also trained in medical skills from first aid to advanced medical care, and are able to care for any casualty or vulnerable person who they find until that person is safely in the hands of the emergency services. Unlike many Mountain Rescue teams, Lowland Rescue teams do not operate as a remote-area ambulance service and concentrate on longer-term deployments for missing-people whose location is unknown, and major-incident support for the emergency services.

Land Search Roles

All of our operational team members are nationally certified in their roles!

  • Search Technician
  • LRST
  • Minimum operational requirement for foot searchers
  • Search Skills
  • Navigation
  • Communication
  • Risk Assessment
  • Preservation of Evidence
  • Search Team Leader
  • LRSTL
  • Operationally in charge of a team of Search Technicians
  • Advanced Search Skills
  • Subsectoring & Prioritisation
  • Scene Management
  • Advanced Risk Assessment
  • Team Welfare
  • Search Operations
  • LRSO
  • Manages operations at Search Control
  • Resourcing
  • Mapping
  • Deployments
  • Debriefing
  • Operational Documentation
  • Search Planner
  • LRSP
  • Creates a strategy and plan to find the missing person
  • Search Planning
  • Missing Person Behaviour
  • Terrain Analysis
  • Scenario Analysis
  • Planning Documentation
 

The above is an example of the skills that our team members have. Operational members may also have more advanced skills such as emergency medical support