ISAR Business Plan 2008/11 - West Midlands Fire Service

PRESS STATEMENT - Thursday, January 4, 2007
SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM TO TRAIN COLLEAGUES IN AFRICA
A team of Search and Rescue experts from West Midlands Fire Service travelled to the African
country of Tanzania to train its firefighters in vital life-saving techniques. Six members of the UK
International Search and Rescue Team (ISAR) spent two weeks there providing basic training
in skills such as water rescue, high angle line rescue and technical search following structural
collapse. During the trip they conducted a number of exercises with members of the Urban
Search and Rescue team based in the city of Dar es Salaam to demonstrate and test the skills
they have shared.
Paul Burnham said “West Midlands Fire Service is leading the way with search and rescue and
we are very pleased to have this exciting opportunity to share our skills and techniques with our
colleagues in Tanzania. We hope that our visit will leave them better prepared to face a wide
variety of scenarios that can occur.”
The team who travelled to Tanzania consisted of Team Leader Alan Pellowe (Birmingham), Paul
Burnham (Coventry), Alan Batchelor and James McParland (Training Centre), Lee Ivory (Solihull),
and David Moffat (Erdington). They are all serving firefighters with West Midlands Fire Service.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer Vij Randeniya
“I was fortunate to join our team midway through their programme and was able to see first
hand the impact that we were having. The training programme delivered by West Midlands Fire
Service personnel via ISAR, quite simply, made a difference to many people’s lives and they can
be justly proud of what they achieved. “While it may appear strange that we were there helping
a private fire brigade funded by subscriptions, I was struck by the thought that if we weren’t
there, no-one else would be and our involvement greatly benefited the people of
Dar es Salaam.”
ISAR BUSINESS PLAN 11