Staying Alive Team

A SAR (Search And Rescue) team in Padang, Sumatra Indonesia was set up by a Singaporean Mr. Eric Tan. The SAR aims to help local residents better preparing themselves as they are living in an area located in the tsunami zone. Eric helps the local team to set up SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and train them to prepare to move, fight small fires, size up search and rescue, evacuate casualties and stand down. The SAR training is an on-going exercise. Local members are trained to retrain other local members and to honor the commitment. In this regard, training proves to be the key ingredient to the handling of disaster. As members are not fire fighters or medical personnel, they are only volunteer trained in SAR, hence training helps to produce such skills. SAR members learn to transfer a casualty in a basket stretcher from an upper level to the ground floor. They also learn to gain access to trapped casualties by removing obstacles, cutting re-bars. They experienced the evacuating casualty through narrow pathway and obstacle can be exhausting. That’s why the SAR places much emphasis on physical and mental fitness.