Category: Search and Rescue

Bay Search and Rescue Diamondback Airboat built in Florida and a common sight on the Everglades

SC55 FYU Bay Search and Rescue Land Rover Discovery

SY54 SAR British Red Cross Mercedes Unimog incident control and communications support unit. This Search and Rescue vehicle has a personalised registration plate. Notice the size of the steps to get into the rear! It is owned by the Scottish Government and after a spell with Mountain Rescue, the Red Cross are the current custodians of it.

FE62 OAS Sussex Search and Rescue VW Crafter incident control vehicle, also carrying Sussex Police branding. Notice the cycles stored in the rear.

YK62 UKC York Rescue Boat Land Rover Defender 110 – This is the charity’s only vehicle. It was donated by a local dealership to help the charity raise its profile during it’s first few months of operation. It is used for publicity and will develop into a patrol and rescue vehicle. The purchase of a boat and training of volunteers will follow.

The side view. York Rescue Boat is focussed on the safety of the rivers in and around York. They aim to achieve this by means of a patrol and rescue boat, combined with a programme of education.

From the rear

The winch

The charity’s logo on the bonnet

Another view of the Land Rover

Defence Helicopter Flying School – demonstration of water rescue capability. They train Search and Rescue pilots and personnel. This is a Eurocopter Squirrel and is based at the HQ at RAF Shawbury, near Shrewsbury.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Watch a video of this vehicle in action!

Defence Helicopter Flying School – demonstration of manoeuvrability over land.



Defence Helicopter Flying School.



Defence Helicopter Flying School.



Defence Helicopter Flying School.

Watch a video of this vehicle in action!

CY57 EYR This anonymous-looking Vauxhall Movano LWB has blue flashing lights and ‘rescue’ wording on the light bar on the roof.



A closer look at the roof shows the Underwater Search Team branding. The vehicle is operated by SARbot.



The rear view, showing dog cages in the back for specialist water search dogs.

KJ07 ZMY This Incidence Response Search Team Ford Mondeo is operated by UK Defence Sec. It is registered as an ambulance and crewed by medics contracted to respond to serious incidents. It also carries search and rescue markings.

N25 USH Surrey SAR use this Land Rover Defender for rescue work. It uses blue lights and is registered as an ambulance.



A closer look at the front of the vehicle, including the winch.



A look at the rear, including the equipment trailer.



The team wait by their vehicle as a Coastguard rescue helicopter come in to land.

G-REDP This is a Eurocopter AS332L2 that is operated by Bond. It is used for rescue operations in the North Sea area.



A look at the craft from the side.



The rescue helicopter on a low level test flight, rippled by the heat haze.



The aircraft undergoing routine servicing in its hanger.

Watch a video of this vehicle in action!

FL61 XEW Watersafe UK use this Citroen Relay as a search and rescue and water rescue incident unit.



The rear view of the blue-light vehicle.

PF57 ZHW Bay Search and Rescue use this 2007 Renault Master minibus as an ambulance.



The rear view.

YT12 GWO A Mercedes Sprinter 4×4 that is used for search and rescue work by SARbot UK. They are a Dorset-based water rescue charity.



The rear view of the van. There is also an identical sister vehicle with registration YT12 GYB.

In this scene Stornoway Coastguard S-92 RESCUE 100 is seen with an ambulance and Lochaber’s Mountain Rescue minibus.



G-CGMU Rescue 100 in flight

Royal Navy Rescue 177 is seen here transferring a patient to an ambulance after an avalanche.



SF11 MXY The Scottish Ambulance Service ambulance departs on blue lights.



The rescue helicopter then takes off and returns to base.

G-CIAS Channel Islands Air Search operate this 1982 Islander aircraft for Search and Rescue work (with personalised registration). CIAS is a 24/7 charity that assists in saving lives at sea and is supported entirely by volunteers. The Channel Islands are a distance away from government-funded French and English rescue helicopters and so created their own service in 1980.



The aircraft in its purpose built hanger on Guernsey. It was built in 1982 and came to the service in 1992 with many modifications made. These include extended nose housing for radar, extended wing tips and long range fuel tanks.



Another view of G-CIAS ready for action. With callsign ‘Airsearch One’, it can travel at up to 140 knots and can stay in the air for up to 4 hours 30 minutes. It carries out sea and land searches, including mainland France and England.



The rear view of the aircraft called Lions’ Pride. It can take off with just 100m visibility and the time from call to airborne is about 25 minutes. This includes the time taken for the volunteers to drive to the hanger – a journey that is helped by the use of green flashing lights on their private cars.



The Forward Looking Infa Red (FLIR) pod shown cost £200,000 to purchase and was a massive sum to pay out for a small charitable organisation. However the benefits of having this save lives.



The underside of the aircraft as seen from the sea. The charity use the tag line ‘The Lifeboats’ Eyes in the Sky’.



A close look at the four speakers used as a public address system or siren.



Inside the aircraft. This compact space is for five team members: a pilot, a search director and observers. There is no capability to rescue or transport casualties.



The rear observer seats. The windows are bulged outwards to allow the observers to look straight down. A small chute at the bottom of the photograph allows sea flares to be placed on the sea as markers. Behind the rear seats is an inflatable life raft that can the pushed out of the aircraft to be used by up to 11 people in the sea.



In this staged photograph, G-CIAS is in flight, joined by the Channel Islands’ other rescue services.

E105 BVO Bay Search and Rescue use this flat bed Mercedes Benz truck for all-terrain rescue work.



The rear view.

S618 LRM A Volvo FL6 / Emergency One truck that was in service with Cumbria Fire. It is now part of Bay Rescue’s fleet, carrying our search and rescue missions in the Morecambe Bay area.



The rear view of the multi-purpose truck with flat bed back and crane.

V398 ESX Hebrides Search & Rescue use this Land Rover to respond to incidents on the isles of Lewis and Harris. This service began in 2011.



The rear view of the Land Rover looking out onto the beautiful but wild terrain.

Here you can see the Venturers Response Team with a fleet of a range of vehicles that are designed for on and off road use. They are a Land Rover, a Range Rover (JOY 125Y), a All-Terrain Vehicle and an Pinzgauer.

Here a Land Rover rescue vehicle from Venturers SAR arrives to rescue a car stranded in floodwater.

YC58 WTV This Renault Master van is used by Wiltshire Search and Rescue.



The rear view showing the matching trailer which includes two canoes on the roof.

N387 CBL This imported Mazda van is part of the Venturers SAR Flood Response team. The vehicle was manufactured in 1995. The flood team respond to major floods and have saved lives all around the UK. This van is not equipped with blue lights.

Y639 TUK This is a SAR Land Rover Defender 110. It is liveried as Dorset Search and Rescue, an organisation formed in 2004. However this vehicle is not part of their fleet. It was used by a civilian international major incident advisor assisting Dorset Police and MOD in running a pre-Olympic training exercise in Dorset. Unfortunately the livery was not approved and neither the use of blue lights outside the MOD training grounds in Lulworth.

It carries blue and amber flashing lights that are used independently as required. Since this photograph was taken, the livery and blue lights have been removed from this vehicle.

The rear view, showing the roof rack for carrying bulky equipment.

JDY 125Y This 1982 Range Rover ambulance is operated by Venturers Search and Rescue. It is fitted with a winch and double blue flashing light on the roof.



The winch is shown in use here as a team member extends it to assist in a very snowy environment.

XLJ 997S In this dramatic shot, a Volvo C303 belonging to The League of Venturers Search and Rescue reaches the top of a steep hill of loose dirt on a training exercise.



A clearer look at the vehicle which carries blue lights.

K518 UJT Dorset Search and Rescue operate this search control unit based on an Optare Metrorider minibus. It has a green and white checkered band down the side and no blue lights fitted.

EX03 UUD is a Land Rover Defender 90 TD5 used by Dorset Search and Rescue, based at Dorchester. It carries no blue lights.

This Land Rover is part of SARA’s (Severn Area Rescue Association) fleet. It is shown here with some of the equipment carried on show.