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New Recruits For Isle Of Wight Search And Rescue Team As Call-Outs Rise

The Isle of Wight's Search and Rescue team says the pandemic has been a "challenging time", with a slight rise in call-outs.

WightSAR, which is made up of more than 30 volunteers, has seen an increase in calls regarding mental health.

Speaking to Isle of Wight Radio, Founder Dean Terrett said:

"On the Island we have a high rate of elderly. A lot of the time a good percentage of the calls were when an elderly person had a fall in the countryside. Or they could be dementia-associated. Naturally we have a high number of those.

"During the pandemic we've actually seen the majority of the call-outs being associated with things like depression so mental health has been a real factor."

The team has recently reinforced its ranks, adding another 12 recruits.

Dean says the new volunteers were put through their paces during a two-day course at PGL in Wootton.

He said:

"The training based on the mainland is like gold dust as it covers all 23 Lowland Rescue teams across the whole country. In normal circumstances we would normally get a maximum of four spaces per course which potentially could have taken us anything up to another year for our new members to qualify”. 

“Holding the course on the Island enables us to rapidly train our volunteers and as a result get them ready to be able to join real searches much sooner than would otherwise be possible.

“These local courses will make a huge difference to the service we are able to offer and we are so grateful to all the businesses and organisations, including PGL, who support us.”

The trainees were  able to use equipment purchased through the recent grant by Island Roads’ Isle of Wight Foundation.

The training programme covered elements including ground search techniques, map and compass reading, first aid, crime scene preservation, safe evacuation practices and making best use of the latest technology and specialist search software.

A registered charity and member of the Association of Lowland Rescue, WightSAR volunteers make themselves available 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year to support Hampshire Constabulary and other agencies in searches for high risk, vulnerable missing persons on the Island.

WightSAR receives no form of statutory funding and is therefore solely reliant on fundraising, public and business donation.

For information on the various volunteering roles within WightSAR you can visit here - Volunteering Page.

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