Our flood rescue team volunteers will travel anywhere in the world to prevent tragedies in flood disasters – but how do you train for lifesaving in such extreme conditions?

With a heave and an unyielding ‘3, 2, 1, GO!’ five RNLI Flood Rescue Team (FRT) volunteers set off aboard their inflatable boat into the volatile waters of the Nantahala River, North Carolina. With no engine to power them, the team face waters that rush over concealed rocks. Only paddles offer them any control as they look for casualties.

Luckily, no one is really injured – the FRT is taking part in an exercise designed to test their ability to navigate tricky waters while also finding flood victims and bringing them to safety. This is a team of volunteers who could be tasked to inland flooding anywhere around the globe within 24 hours. They need world-class training – and, thanks to RNLI supporters, they are getting it.

Over the pond
In the Autumn, 40 of the RNLI’s International Flood Rescue Team travelled to North Carolina to train alongside the Charlotte Fire Department – a world leader in flood rescue. It gave the team an unrivalled opportunity to test their procedures, kit, and management.

Each day involved up to 14 hours of training in humid conditions. Training often went into the night, so fatigue increased throughout the week and operations became more and more challenging.

‘But that’s what it would be like in a real-life deployment. You have to dig deep into your energy reserves,’ says Mike Picknett, Senior Helmsman at Redcar Lifeboat Station and Flood Rescue Team volunteer since 2006. As Mike testifies, the UK-based training that the team receives is of the highest standard. But it’s almost impossible to replicate the international environments that they might find themselves in. The team may have to work in different cultures, time zones and climates – including intense humidity. So training in North Carolina proved invaluable.

‘We were able to test the logistics of assembling, packaging, shipping and reassembling a full team’s kit to a foreign country, including all the issues of customs and security. That’s a lot of drysuits and outboard engines!’ explains Mike. ‘Add to that the management of the team in terms of preparedness, travel, health, communications and control, and it’s a lot to consider. And all the while you have to mentally prepare yourself for what you might face at the other end.’

The trip also gave the team a taste of the sorts of political factors that can come into play when operating abroad. They have to be ready to work with several different agencies in an unfamiliar government system. This was particularly pertinent in North Carolina, as the US Government shutdown occurred on the third day of the exercise. ‘Luckily we weren’t really affected – but it just goes to show that we could face these sorts of challenges at any time,’ says Mike. Sharing skills

As well as practising searches in daylight and at night in swift waters, the teams put their technical rope rescue skills, complex boathandling and wide area searching to the test. There were helicopter exercises too – they rehearsed winching manoeuvres with North Carolina’s Helo Aquatic Rescue Team.

Accommodation was basic: the team bedded down on the floor of a nearby military base. ‘But that’s exactly what you’d find in a real-life situation – it’s about practicality, not comfort,’ says Mike, who, like all the team members on the trip, is a volunteer. That meant many had to take a week’s leave from full-time jobs to attend (see page 20 for more on the work/ lifesaving balance).

Mike adds that the team’s overall command process was put under the spotlight during the exercises. ‘The planning is crucial – how do we make it work for the residents of a flooded village or town during those really critical moments?’ he says. ‘We were able to look at the problem, make a rescue plan, adjust it, and at the end of the week say: “we did this really well, but this is where we can improve it.” Having the Charlotte team there to critique it gave us a team with which to exchange ideas.’

Mike acknowledges that there may be people who are sceptical about the team travelling to the USA to train. ‘We know from comments on social media that some people were questioning why we went to the USA instead of training (like we usually do) in Scotland or Wales. But there is no way we could have hosted an exercise of this scale in the UK. The ability to test a huge range of skills and assets alongside renowned rescue organisations, in intense humidity and for prolonged periods – for the same cost as sending a smaller team to Scotland – was too good to miss. Plus, we’ve come away with new relationships. That means we’ve got an extra body of knowledge to call upon when we really need it.’