Got a good blue light run in to Virginia water today, to rescue an old lady. I was at B&Q in The Interceptor, which is actually a bit further away so managed to blatt it across almost the whole county. Got there before everyone else too, #speed_demon.
I went to say hello to the SEBEV guys but they just looked sullen and not especially pleased to see me. They perked up when the Salvation Army van arrived thogh. I’m guessing low blood sugar. Anyway, turns out she was still in the old people’s home, and they just didn’t count right when they did the rounds in the morning.
Seamus wrote a great post on the social medias though that made it look like we’d found and rescued her again, and we even got our picture on the SurreyLive website, so all round success. #justoneman #makingadifference #bluelightrun
Further to our previous post when SCC leaked a document to the Armed Forces and RNLI about Surrey SAR flying drones illegally we now see that an article was published in the press.
The Surrey Police response was “Following the investigation, the decision was made, in conjunction with advice provided by the Civil Aviation Authority, that it was proportionate to deal with these matters as a point of learning, allowing appropriate practice and process change to ensure that Surrey Search and Rescue did not commit any further breaches.”…
Of note is the response from James Rossell when he says “The matters were rightly investigated by the police, and separately the police found that there was either no evidence that drones were flown outside of the law, or that no offence has been committed. In response to a single incident, additional training was recommended by the police and we accepted those findings. No further action was taken against the drone operators or the charity.“
Yet again Mr Rosssell can’t be honest and open about what happened. It is quite clear that there were Air Navigation Order offences as Seamus Kearns flew in congested areas without a PFCO and the police dealt with this as words of advice so that Surrey SAR could learn from their mistakes. With attitudes like this fool has is it any wonder that team members and people on other teams or the emergency services have no respect for him and really don’t like him.
It is also noted “We ensure that safety is a key priority when we carry out searches to save lives and rescue people in danger.“….hmmmm I’m sure not you a have real grip on what safety is or have a grip on health and safety. Gavin becoming hypothermic and hospitalised after a Surrey SAR training session in a lake and lets not forget that James Turnbull wrote “we broke Buzz” when he was joking about Susan having her ankle broken on another water training session. Safety isn’t a joke Mr Turnbull.
Well well well. Thanks to someone in Surrey County Council leaking this document and sending it to the Armed Forces and other high profile organisations including the RNLI, it appears that SurSAR have indeed been flying drones illegally and lends weight to the fact that people in SFRS do not like or trust SurSAR. At least more organisations are aware of the risk of using SurSAR.
It is no surprise to us to see James Rossell and Seamus Kearns mentioned as the ones flying illegally and dangerously. Let’s not forget we are supposed to “trust the trustees”. How can we when they are putting lives at risk whether it be from ignoring intelligence during searches, to bodged water rescue deployments, to driving dangerously on blue lights and now to flying drones dangerously.
Surrey Police and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service really need to demand changes at SurSAR by stopping using them until they clear out the dangerous, incompetent fools that are the “Trustees” and self appointed Operational Management Team.
More disturbing news from the watery world of SurSAR. One of their members, in name only, as he never turns up and doesn’t do any of the training despite supposedly everyone being a Search Technician first and a specialist second, may have been involved in a casual bit of fraud. Still, its all sort of for a good cause, and if you’re a trustee, or one of their friends, we can always bend the rules.
This particular member is very well-respected in the water rescue community due to his skills, was the national lead for water rescue and is a Rescue 3 instructor. It also seems he is something important in the RNLI.
Unfortunately for all concerned we have evidence that suggests he may have been a naughty boy. This individual was a special in the Metropolitan Police and should know what fraud is. It looks like James Rossell has really dropped him in it this time. People on the team are furious at what James Rossell has done, it is common knowledge and flying around on WhatsApp messages between team members and other organisations. SFRS have also leaked documentation too….its not looking good.
Is this why our aquatic friend rapidly stood down as a Trustee of Lowland Rescue last year? Did he get wind that Mr Rossell had been foolish? We think everyone at the needs to come clean and explain to the police how Mr Rossell was able to do what he did as well as cutting links to Surrey SAR to protect his own reputation.
In the mean time, if you have Rescue 3 water qualification from Surrey SAR and signed of by someone at the RNLI, then it may well be moody and you may have wasted your money. Unless you think funding the lifestyle of the rich and famous is a good use of your money, of course.
Got a shout to Sussex and I was halfway down the A24 on blues before I realised it was just a search for a vulnerable person. #boringsnoring I left it to the weird dog people and the OrdinarySAR chaps and went back to my project. It’s a Fokker E.III Eindecker but I keep getting the parts stuck to my fingers when they should be being stuck together. One of the wheel struts went up my nose the other day, and I don’t think its come out yet.
Better keep it quiet as Piers says that too many model aircraft parts in the brain can be harmful. Bit naughty, but bluelighted it back to B&Q for some more superglue. No point in putting them on the car if you don’t use them #everydayhero #justoneman #searchandrescue
