Improving ALSAR
A couple of weeks ago I sparked a debate when I wrote a vision for improving ALSAR Training. Since then many of the debates have somehow included reference to ALSAR and what it is doing about whatever the subject being discussed.
Today I want to write another “vision” – this time on how to improve ALSAR the “committee”. I thought about this when I read Adrian Edwards’ (Chair of ALSAR) comment about his role. He stated that;
As I said at the conference, my role as chair is merely to represent the views of the committee at various external meetings. I have nor wish to have any “power” or authority. I am in effect a facilitator without even a vote at meetings.
Now I have to add that the way Adrian sees his role is because of the expectation and voting of the ALSAR Committee as a whole; “In the old days” the Chairman of ALSAR and the executive committee did have a voice and a vote.
With no disrespect meant to Adrian but his role of Chair of ALSAR has been neutered by the committee. What is the point of that role if this is all we expect that person to do? Someone from each Unit could take turns to chair the meeting and could appoint someone to sit on various external committees.
The same could be said of all the other so-called executive officers positions.
If ALSAR really wants things to happen it needs to give some power back to those in charge and let the use it! How long will this experiment of trying to do everything by a committee of 15 Units Reps go on? It has FAILED! ALSAR has not moved on as it should.
My vision is that ALSAR elects 5 executive officers (maybe a few more as I was going to add some more roles but more about that later!) It then gives them the power to do something. ALSAR as a whole should meet less often, twice a year at the most. The ALSAR executive should be meeting at least ten times a year. At these meetings they should be making decisions! Not putting things off because people haven’t read the paperwork etc. If they haven’t submitted their thoughts/proposals then they lose out!
The executive should be given the ultimate power to suspend ALSAR Units and they should not be afraid to use it where the ALSAR Unit disregards the standards and/or procedures set. Let that team explain to the local police why they couldn’t be bothered to do whatever ALSAR asked and have been suspended. Let them explain to the local media why they believe that they know better than the national association.
Only when ALSAR has such a powerful executive working towards its goals will it get somewhere.
Where?
A national brand would be good,
Improved training and moderation of training and standards,
Fundraising at a national level,
Improving knowledge of misper search in the police,
and on and on…
Well there’s my vision; I’m sure you have some thoughts too.
December 7, 2009
· 
Robert Bradley · 
22 Comments
Tags: ALSAR, ALSAR Chair, ALSAR Training, ALSAR Training Officer, Fundraising, Misper Search · Posted in: Search Thoughts, Search Training
22 Responses
There was a whole session devoted to the future of ALSAR at the conference, lots and lots of good ideas and suggestions including some you have raised above. However it all seems to have gone very quiet…..
It was all going to be typed up and sent out to all attendees, but nothing has come from it.
There were some really interesting ideas.
Does anyone know what happened to the notes?
I’m still waiting for minutes and other documents to post on the ALSAR website that were requested earlier this year.
I wonder if everyone involved in ALSAR is too busy with their respective teams to devote the time required to take ALSAR forward. Oh dear have I just added a second cat amongst the pigeons?
LSDogs is formed in a similar way however we have some ground rules….
Firstly, the Chair has a casting vote should one be required, but just the same as ALSAR the committee does not have a vote. This comes from the “once bitten, twice shy” scenario of a unit forcing through their own agendas by not only having a unit vote, but also multiple executive committee votes also….
But the rules are quite simple. If an item is in New Business or Matters Arising they must firstly be supported with materials provided beforehand that gets distributed with the agenda. These items WILL be voted on and the unit reps are expected to be able to make decisions based o their team’s views.
Items in AOB that information is not provided regarding before the meeting may be voted on depending on the discussion with the committee.
I am not sure I agree with the structure suggested as it is often hard enough to fill the Executive posts that are already available, let alone by increasing them further.
Thats not to say that it wouldn’t work for ALSAR though.
Simon, you may well be right in saying that maybe people are too busy with their units – it is probably the same people in a unit who take on the responsibilities of day to day running of the unit and also go forward to help run ALSAR. I know a lot of my time is taken up with doing things for the unit I’m with – I’m sure this is the same for others too.
If this is the case, maybe people need to ask for help and delegate more, rather than trying to do everything themselves.
Rob,
I’ve never been to an ALSAR meeting, although I was present at the conference, and have heard people talking a lot. I think that less people (to a point) does mean faster decision making so this might work. But more to the point I think was your comment on …
“Not putting things off because people haven’t read the paperwork etc. If they haven’t submitted their thoughts/proposals then they lose out!”
Maybe this is all that is needed to drive more changes? Make it clear when the points for discussion are sent out pre-meeting, that if people haven’t consulted their units and got together their points of veiw, then they can sit out of the voting process. I think if this happened once, units would suddenly start coming prepared to the meetings, and more could get done.
So maybe this idea should be put to the ALSAR committee? As Daryl says it seems to work with LSDogs.
But the real problem seems to be the lethargy within ALSAR – minutes not produced/sent out/published quickly, actions not followed through quickly and so on.
The conference was great! Looks of enthusiasm, great ideas etc. I felt really bad taking my position that nothing would happen – but the evidence is in my favour at the moment. As always I wait to be proved wrong!
There’s a committee meeting on February 14th as far as I know. Maybe it should go forward? Would anyone particularly want to be the one to present it?
The conference was great, so many ideas and people wanting to make positive changes. I would relaly like to see that write up of all the ideas again, as I have forgotten what most of them were after so long!!
If the people responsible for writing up the minutes can’t do it for whatever reason, they need to pass that job on to someone else.
I think this ‘facilitator’ role is not what ALSAR needs, and is not a fair description of what Adrian does. When he attends meetings he speaks for ALSAR, and rightly so. Unit Chairs are unit leaders and the ALSAR chair should be a leader of leaders. I am sure that when Adrian was elected it was based on his search knowledge, enthusiasm, and search ability, not just his ability to stop us all fighting like cats in a sack. ALSAR needs to be upholding the standards of search and rescue, and that requires some sticks in the ground, and some orders, not just guidelines.
hi everyone, i feel that robert is right that ALSAR has seriously got problems.
speaking personally I fail to understand how a team can be investigated by alsar, found that they did not follow protocols by an investigation team then given a warning.
the icing on the cake is that one of the persons found to have flouted the team/alsar rules was elected on the ALSAR and LS dogs committees.
ALSAR was a good idea but now has proved to have no idea of what it is whilst my investigation was undertaken i was told “we are not a governing body” funny that seeing that there is a team fee and you have to pass a test to become full member.
If anyone would like clarification on what I have said please feel free to contact me via robert.
make ALSAR the force it once was.
also to hilight your comment robert dated december the 10th, the investigation I commented on above I am still waiting to receive the minuets of the AGM/meeting in feb 2008 after asking on numerous occasions, now looking at other options to get a copy.
I did not even get notified on what sanctions/ action ALSAR had imposed, I had to ask many months later and was told there had been a warning due to the numerous breaches and that the period of “supervision” had been discussed at the november meeting and had been “spent” and the team allowed to carry on.
Robert many thanks for the unbiased site!!!!!
I wonder if literacy and leadership skills are somehow related. Perhaps by the techniques of communication?
Time for my two pennies worth!!! I beleive ALSAR is only as strong as it’s member units, ALSAR can only be what the member units want it to be.
If we want it to be a fourm then thats what it will be, if however we want a regulatry body then we, as units, must help shape ALSAR to become the body we want and maybe some would say need?
I’m not sure why the teams want ALSAR to be anything other than what it states it is.
Of course ALSAR is a regulatory body to an extent. It has its own set of rules and standards that member teams sign up to and comply with in order to be (and remain) members of ALSAR. Thats regulation by anyones standards. It should also be a forum of course, a national place for LSAR teams to come together and discuss the ‘bigger picture’ issues.
If ALSAR teams want to help then they need to make sure that they are represented at the meetings. I know that means a lot of travel for some but if you are not there then you dont get a say. ‘Decisions are made by those who show up’ (West Wing – 2002)
ALSAR >> Please show us some minutes. The last set of minutes on the website is 2005. Then we’ll know whats being discussed and can offer help or just get involved. At the very least we can get behind ALSAR.
Having a set of rules and standards is not reulation. Regulation would involve auditing to ensure that the standards were being adhered to.
I would like ALSAR to be a lot more than it currently is. I would like it to not be a complete secret outside of SAR circles. I would like to be able to describe my unit as ‘the ALSAR team for East and West Sussex’, without having to then explain what ALSAR is. Changing the name might be a start. Mountain Rescue is fairly self explanatory. ALSAR is not (not least because no-one understands what Lowland means).
How many times have we all thrown our change in a collecting tin on the bar because we have recognised the MR logo, without even seeing which team it is for?
I want to see Adrian on the TV and in the papers, telling the UK what we do, why we do it, and how they can help.
Currently we are such a secret society I am amazed Dan Brown hasn’t written a book about us.
So basically you want ALSAR to be what it states it is?
ALSAR tells you what you need to do to be a member, and Police Forces only let teams work for them who are ALSAR affiliated. You are regulated. Whether that regulation is audited or enforced is another matter. Perhaps we are arguing semantics?
Just out of interest, what would you change the name to? I ask because when ALSAR was created there was a lot of discussion between teams about the name. What name would you change to that could adequately distinguish ALSAR from Mountain Rescue whilst stopping the need to explain what Lowland is?
Or perhaps just go to ‘Lowland Rescue’ ?
Rob >> Sounds like a competition for your blog
Where can I find out exactly what these standards for ALSAR teams are? Are they up on the website? I’ve had a quick look but can’t seem to see anything.
Does ALSAR remove a team’s affiliation if these standards aren’t adhered to? Or have there not been any instances of this in order to find out?
Maybe a more active version of ALSAR, as Johnnie suggests, which audits teams, would drive forward lowland SAR and improve standards across the board? Meeting a minimum standard set by ALSAR is one thing, but maybe this could be improved on? Of course there is always the question of who would give the time to do this…..
At the risk of repeating myself, at the risk of repeating myself. ALSAR if you are listening send me the docs and i’ll post them in the members area. Alternatively ALSAR committee members all have privileges to post material and upload documents.
Jennie, when I first took over HANTSAR trying to find standards was one of the first things I tried without success, apart from finding an agreed training syllabus. I spoke to other teams (WILSAR, DORSAR, SEBEV and SUSSAR – although not in that order). I think nationally everyone is doing their own thing as there are no guidelines in place.
Another example I am looking in to is Search Currency. In HANTSAR current rules laid down way back in 2003 state that in order to remain operational you must have completed an ST course and attended an outdoor practical exercise in the last 60 days. For every 60 days missed you need to do an exercise. However if I speak to another team they have topics which need to be ticked off throughout the year but that appears to rely on all of your members attending training every week / fortnight etc.
Isis have the agreed training syllabus too, but that’s it for us aswell!
HantSAR’s operational requirements are more stringent than ours, (maybe it’s something Isis need to look into?) but our requirements are a UKLSI search tech course, one meeting a month and 2 exercises a year. Also, if the ST course were to change drastically we’d be getting people to go along for a refresher.
In the interests of fairness I suggest Rob invite Adrian to read all these comments and be invited to respond…? PS I also thought the ALSAR conference was very impressive and greatly look forward to the next one. X
Linking to a similar conversation on SARwork
http://www.sarworld.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2&start=0
Beth – I know Adrian reads this website when he can, but I will wing him an e-mail just to let him know that this conversation has started up again.
I do wonder though whether this whole conversation is better had on the SAR World Forum. It might be appropriate (I don’t know – your thoughts are welcome!) to actually have a public ALSAR Forum on there; a bit like the SEBEV one?
I like the idea of having the conversations in public – it allows for outside views to be sought and given. It is also a better platform to allow discussion of multiple subjects within ALSAR…
As a new team coming in, and hopefully gaining ALSAR approval, we were impressed by the pedigree that ALSAR represents. I originally came from a water rescue background and there it is every team for itself (including trying to put the other out of business). With you guys ALSAR is the glue that binds you together. A lot has to be said for that.
I apologise if I am speaking out of line as a new boy on the block, but having seen the unpleasent end of SAR teams in a free for all, I felt I was qualified to comment.
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