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As one of the UK’s main emergency services, HM Coastguard is responsible for initiating and co-ordinating search and rescue (SAR) operations at sea and around our coasts through its 18 Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres and its comprehensive command, control and communications systems. In co-ordinating the SAR response, the emergency response centres can call on a number of front line UK SAR assets which include the Coastguard Rescue Teams, RNLI lifeboats and SAR aircraft.

The Coastguard Rescue Service is a voluntary Organisation consisting of 380 Coastguard Rescue Teams strategically located around the coast of the UK. Each team and its members are provided with Search and rescue equipment, protective clothing and uniform appropriate to the team’s rescue role. Team members, known as Coastguard Rescue Officers, are trained to a very high level in a wide range of capabilities specifically for the local coastal environment and the communities they live and work in.

Interested in joining?

So, what would you be letting yourself in for? You would be given specialist training in cliff rescue, mud rescue, search methods and flood relief depending on the needs of your local area. As a member of a Coastguard Rescue Team, you might also play an important part in educating children and adults on sea safety and how they can contact the correct emergency services when they are required. The role can be physically and emotionally demanding if you are engaged on long rescue operations and you may encounter distressing scenes in the course of the team’s emergency response work. Members of your local Coastguard Rescue Teams come from your coastal community or nearby, and volunteer their time and skills depending on their availability. When you join, you become part of a highly respected emergency response organisation which deals with thousands of incidents nationwide each year. Coastguard Rescue Officers come from all walks of life and their ages range between 16-65 and suitable candidates are required to meet the health standards necessary for the work of a search and rescue team.

So, what will you gain from becoming a Coastguard Rescue Officer? To begin with, HM Coastguard will invest in your development as a Coastguard Rescue Team member by training you in basic and specialist search and rescue skills necessary for your local area, equip you for the work you will undertake and offer opportunities for you to gain valuable experience in working with others in your community emergency services and to enhance your leadership and team building skills. You will also receive a small payment for the time you give – this will include your training and some routine duties, travelling expenses and a call out payment to compensate you for responding to your pager at often unsociable times. Talk to your local team and you’ll see why payment isn’t their main reason for being there. Emergency callouts are unpredictable and varied in nature so there is unlikely to be a routine pattern to when you are called to respond to an incident.

The CRS puts new CRT members through an extensive training programme in different competencies which include:

• Search techniques
• First aid skills
• Communications skills
• Leadership and supervisory management skills
• Driving 4 x 4 vehicles

and, depending on your locality

• Cliff rescue
• Mud rescue
• Flood relief work

If you are interested in applying to join the Coastguard Rescue Service in one of your local teams, or if you have more questions about what it will mean for you to become a Coastguard Rescue Officer,

please contact Lowestoft & Southwold Coastguard Team via our contact page