SARCast - A Search and Rescue Podcast Original Outdoor Media

This is a very special episode, it encompasses what we want SARCast to be all about, showcasing SAR teams from around the world.

Southport Offshore Rescue Trust, aka Southport Lifeboat, is an independent lifeboat organisation based in Southport, UK. They contacted us about visiting their new boathouse, and after a bit of organisation Richard and producer Amy headed up there to meet the team. The resulting episode is the sum of us talking to some fantastically knowledgeable people, experiencing first hand a search on quad bikes, and being the casualty in man overboard training scenarios.

We couldn't have asked for a more welcoming and professional bunch of people for the first recording of this type for SARCast. They kitted us up in all of the right gear to take part in some training exercises, and accommodated us in one of their meeting rooms for the evening. Here we interviewed some of the key members of the team about Southport Lifeboat's history, current activity and all of the impressive kit which they use to provide a very effective service.

We really hope that you enjoy this episode, and if you belong to a team who would like to welcome us to a training event then please do get in touch, via direct message or email - podcast@originaloutdoormedia.co.uk

Southport Lifeboat - https://www.southport-lifeboat.org.uk/

The team catch up about the interview with Ralph and some of the interesting takeaways, then move on to hear about a recent body recovery which Luke was part of. They talk over what worked and where improvements could be made regarding interoperability as well as the difficult nature of the search area. Ben leads the way giving his thoughts on Outdoor Active and it's use in SAR vs other similar apps. Then the discussion turns to the costs of joining a volunteer SAR team and the observations Ben has made whilst being involved in recent recruitment days for his team.



Links

Outdoor Active - https://www.outdooractive.com/en/

Discord - https://discord.gg/wWBaxdS83Y

For this episode of SARCast we welcome a guest into the fold, someone who we met through the discord server who lives life a little bit differently to what we are used to, and has been part of some very interesting developments in the SAR world.

Ralph is a member of a SAR team in Norway, quite far North in Norway in fact. He joined Richard for a conversation about life above the Arctic circle, how SAR is managed there, and the different challenges faced when operating in an extreme environment. They also dive in to the fascinating projects which Ralph's team is leading on, developing a drone specifically to help with SAR. From pinpointing avalanche beacons, to assessing the safety of ground conditions for rescue and more.

If you or your team are interested in being a guest on the show, please get in touch with Amy: podcast@originaloutdoormedia.co.uk

Links:
@nfmidttroms
@norwegianpeoplesaid
@norse_asset_solutions_as

Discord - https://discord.gg/wWBaxdS83Y

Water commanders, smoke filled rooms, rescue of a SAR dog and call out statistics.

Back with a bang in the new year, we talk about Luke's water commander course and the system in place in the UK for flood events. Ben has encounters with more manikins at his ERT training for work, and Richard gets the details on the search for Juno the SAR dog, with guest Jack Wiseman from Norfolk LSAR. The topic up for discussion this month is all about call out statistics and whether some teams may inflate them.

This is what happened after the visit to Ruth Lee, and demonstrates the effects of cold weather and alcohol on 3 podcast hosts and an avid listener!

A slightly indulgent episode to celebrate one year of SARCast and to usher in the next phase of the podcast following on from what feels like a good, industry relevant interview episode.


We hope that you all have a merry festive season and we look forward to producing more episodes of SARCast in the new year.

For Episode 13 we went for a bit of a jolly and visited the lovely people at Ruth Lee Ltd who are based in North Wales. This is a slightly different episode to usual as the content was so good that it deserved it's own episode instead of only being a segment within our main show.

We had a fantastic time talking to Sarah about the history of the company and the numerous different training mannikins which they have designed and produce from start to finish here in the factory. We learned some of the secrets to their success and heard some interesting stories about how these training aids are used in the real world.

To find out more about Ruth Lee you can find them at ruthlee.co.uk or @ruthleeltd on the social media platforms