Search and rescue (SAR) is the activity of locating and recovering persons either in distress, potential distress or missing and delivering them to a place of safety.

The United Kingdom provides a comprehensive search and rescue service for those reported in trouble either on land, on water or in the air and for those reported missing. The fully integrated organisation of search and rescue co-ordination and search and rescue units using a comprehensive communications infrastructure provides a well-developed search and rescue model.

The purpose of this document is to provide a quick reference guide to local search and rescue assets, their capabilities, activation arrangements and any associated limitations. It does not seek to replicate the UK-wide framework of the Search and Rescue Framework of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (MCA, 2002) but rather aims to compliment it by providing a reference source of local SAR capability.