A local voluntary flood rescue team are calling on their local community to back their project and help launch Wales’ first independent, SLSGB flood rescue team.

Dyfed Water Rescue Team is Wales’ first Surf Lifesaving GB team formed specially to provide water and flood rescue support to the local communities and emergency services. Once trained, equipped and operational the team will be declared on the National Asset Register and will be able to respond to incidents of flooding across the United Kingdom.

In addition to this service, the team will also be available for tasking to provide search and rescue volunteers as required by our local resilience forum to incidents within the immediate area of Dyfed.

Initially trained in swift water rescue and incident command, the team aim to diversify their training to include first responder medical services, as well as terrestrial search and rescue response.

So why do we need a third sector flood rescue service?

In recent years, much of the UK has suffered from the impact of flooding at an enormous emotional and social cost. This has ranged from the widespread flooding of 2006 and 2012, the devastating floods of 2013 and 2014 and the more recent floods in Cumbria and York in early 2016.

The Cabinet Office National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies 2013 identifies the greatest threat to public safety, after pandemic disease, as major coastal or inland flooding stating; ‘Coastal flooding has the potential to have the most widespread impact in a single event’.

Reduced funding from Government means that there is unlikely to be any increase in resources provided by the emergency services. Surf Lifesaving GB already operates 12 declared flood rescue units in England and have welcomed the plans to launch the Dyfed Water Rescue Team as Wales’ first SLSGB flood rescue team and aim to launch a further 20 teams by the end of 2017.

The team’s biggest hurdle is covering the cost of training and equipment. Basic training costs approximately £1,000 per person and issuing personal protective equipment will cost a further £1,400 per person, giving the team an initial expense in excess of £18,000. It is estimated that a further £80,000 will be needed to cover such overheads as the team expands to enable the purchase of technical rescue equipment, boats and responder vehicles.

The SLSGB SAR Flood Response Service has access to dedicated, specialist training providers and facilities throughout the UK. This means all SLSGB teams meet the highest professional standards of training in compliance with DEFRA Concept of Operations and its standards for all declared flood responders.

The flood environment is probably one of the most dynamic, dangerous theatres of operations for the emergency services. The SLSGB SAR flood training academy has ‘Gold Standard’ accreditation and works closely with world leading experts; Charlotte Fire Dept in North Carolina to ensure joint development.

Their aim is to train beyond the levels set out by DEFRA offering professional swift water operators able to deploy with and integrate with the emergency service command and control systems.

The creation of Dyfed Water Rescue Team has already been approved by SLSGB and with their help they have completed the formal set up process to create the new team. Volunteers have been recruited and are currently undergoing basic training locally before being sent to the SLSGB academy in the coming months.

The team aims to be trained, equipped and deployable by December this year and is now reaching out to the local community for support in funding.

The team has launched a crowd funding opportunity, where members of the local community can donate small amounts helping to train the lifesavers.

Alternatively, the team are seeking sponsorship from local businesses, groups and events who would like to support the set-up of this service. If you would be interested in making Dyfed Water Rescue Team your chosen charity, please contact the team manager on [email protected]

More information on the project can be found by visiting www.slsgb.org.uk/flood