The hidden heroes of Nottinghamshire: Behind the scenes with the Search and Rescue Team
The NSART team briefing the rescue operation before setting off into the forest for the recovery
By Callum Wright and Henry Green
Running a rescue mission might make you think of searching for someone who has slipped into a stormy sea, or a hike up a mountain range to recover someone trapped on the peaks.
Being devoid of seas or mountains, Nottinghamshire might not conjure up images of dramatic missions. But the area still has a rescue team working just as hard as others to ensure people stays safe and have a team on hand in case of a call to action.
The Nottinghamshire Search and Rescue Team (NSART) is made up of a team of more than 40 volunteers on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, ready to deploy in search of vulnerable and missing people. The team mainly search for people struggling with their mental health and those with mental conditions like ADHD and Alzheimer’s.
As well as the rescue itself, the team have also assisted local emergency services and worked with other lowland rescue teams in nearby counties, as well as ensuring those they rescue have appropriate support and services once they’re recovered.
The team are entirely funded on donations and grants, and it costs more than £20,000 a year to keep the operation going. At a recruitment event in November, 25 people applied to join the group.
Jo Scott, who has volunteered for NSART for 11 years, said: “We look for people with the attitude and commitment to doing a professional job, we’re a massively diverse team in terms of background and occupations outside of the search team, so everybody’s bringing something different.
“It’s brilliant to see, they’re looking like a really good cohort already so I’m really happy with them. When I joined we didn’t have the cohort approach that we have now, so I just went to a training session and figured it out as I went along, so to have a different way of doing it is much better.”
Jo also added: “Our work can go under the radar – when you think about rescue you think about mountain rescue because they have mountains and hills, whereas ours is mainly searching through brambles and mud – but the people that we search for are high risk and need help.”
Paul Maloney, 54, who is the trustee and treasurer for NSART, said: “The only time my phone ever makes a noise is for an NSART call out, so the adrenaline starts coming to you and when our searches are successful and you find the missing person that’s great.
“We have unsuccessful searches where we don’t find the person, then there’s always that feeling of ‘could I have done more?’ ‘Could I have responded earlier?’ But then we have follow-up calls to make sure that everyone is okay. Then unfortunately we do have searches where the missing person isn’t found alive, that’s when the team really pull together.
“We do what’s called a hasty search where we want to get the search out quickly; where we know some rough characteristics about the person – so you’ll see the team go down a path, step off for ten metres then have a quick look around. What we usually find is that people with dementia will often follow a path and then stray away before getting stuck or lost, often within metres of the path,” Paul added.
When the teams step off paths, they use a search technique called ‘cubing’ in which people will look up and down and around any trees or shrubbery.
While on the searches, they use a van equipped with an extended six-foot satellite antenna allowing the team to communicate where might be best to search, and to check off any land that has already been checked.
The team also have two dogs they are training to search for those who are missing, using their speed and incredible sense of smell to give potentially vital and pivotal assistance to a search.
Dave Ryan, a dog handler at NSART, said: “The dogs love it, they could do it all day every day if they could. From the start, it’s a game where they see someone hide with their favourite toy or food, we get the dog to run after them then start hiding them further and further away.
“A dog team is worth 10-20 search teams in an area, they can do a big area very quickly to a very high degree.”
Volunteers are taught three key skills across their training: search skills, navigation techniques and medical skills. Training three times a week, many different methods and scenarios are played out to ensure they’re ready for any situation.
Tom Rouse was one of the many applicants in November last year. Speaking at the group’s latest training exercise he said: “I want to give something back to the community and just do something different from normal everyday life.
“My first search drill was interesting, there was quite a bit to learn and it was fun to start putting things into practice. The more senior members have helped to teach us more practical aspects and the foundation blocks which moving forward we will really be able to put into practice,” he added.
Kim Ferrier, another NSART volunteer, said: “I’m on my own a lot, I work from home as a software engineer but I love to be part of a team. I have volunteered before so I found out about NSART and I just thought it was a great way to be part of a team and give back to the community.
“Up until now we’ve just been in a classroom so it’s really good to get out and put what they’ve been saying into practice. The way you look at it you just see a few people walking through the woods and actually there’s a lot more to that – there’s a reason why they do it and that could actually be the success or failure of finding someone.”
NSART: From Recruitment to Rescue, a documentary following the team’s work and recruitment process, will air on Notts TV later this year. Watch the trailer:
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