stress massage for rescuers at critical incidents in the UK and worldwide

restuk.org.uk

REST UK News

Date	Topic
15.05.09	REST UK to attend the Specialist Response week 28-30th September 09 and also the Emergency Services Show 24-25th November 2009
15.11.08	An article in the Times newspaper yesterday featured REST UK, giving details of our work and history. Click here to view.
14.11.08	REST UK is attending the Emergency Services Show 19-20 November, Stoneleigh Park,Coventry.
24.01.08	REST UK will be participating in the major exercise at Widley this year between June 23rd and 28th. It is an exercise that involves working with Firefighters from across the UK and the rest of the world, over the course of a week, and takes place near Portsmouth in Hampshire. Last year REST UK volunteers camped alongside the crews, which worked really well and it is expected that this arrangement will be repeated in subsequent years.
08.11.07	First REST UK deployment a success. On Monday, 5th November, the team leader of Hampshire's UK Search and Rescue team was contacted and within a few hours the Incident Commander gave REST UK the green light to deploy as soon as possible to the site of the Warwickshire factory fire disaster. Kim Wooldridge arrived at 5.30 pm and, having put out an email that morning to alert other REST UK members of the possible deployment, three more members arrived that evening. The volunteers worked from 6pm until 11pm and were warmly received by all the firefighters. Some firefighters had been on site since Friday, many with only 2 hours sleep each night and so REST UK were in heavy demand. By Tuesday three more volunteers had arrived on site and with the operation to find the bodies looking likely to be extended over a few more days, more volunteers were put on standby. However by 2pm Tuesday one of the bodies was found and it was hoped the other two would also be found that day meaning that the operation might be coming to an end sooner rather than later. The REST UK team are to be congratulated on their first deployment, the success of which was due to the dedication of the volunteers, whether attending or on standby. At the end of the day this was a team effort and as much about the training and preparation as the deployment itself. There has been much positive feedback from many quarters but the REST UK team are not complacent and know that many lessons must and will be learned both from this and future deployments. "You were fantastic. It was an incredibly humbling and moving experience for all of us. One we will never forget." Kim Wooldridge, Managing Director, REST UK.