ADSAR Committee

ADSAR consists of a governing committee of nine people. In our role as a local search group our target is to have effective organized search teams on the ground within two hours of getting a call of a missing person. Therefore, to ensure that we can effectively deliver on this target ADSAR is based at parish level.

Parish Liaison Officers

• The heads of the parish group are the Parish Liaison Officers (PLO) these are the people who liaise with the Committee of ADSAR
• The role of each PLO is quite specific; they are responsible for setting up a search base in their parish in the event of a search.
• In the event of a person going missing, Parish Liaison Officers are also responsible for notify the team leaders in their parishes.
  

Co-ordinators

Co-ordinators as the name implies, are the people who co-ordinate the search; they comprise of people who have excellent people management skills, communication skills, map reading and computer skills. They liaise constantly with the Gardaí.

In the event of a search:

• They arrive at the pre-determined search base and consult with the family to determine the last know location of the missing person. They further establish the state of mind of the individual and also such things as age, habits and current state of heath.
• Once they have established the last know location of the missing person, they will define the Primary Search Area.
• They will then subdivide this area into segments that can be searched by the teams in a reasonable length of time.
• Finally they will instruct the TL on the search method.
• If the area contains specific hazards or if we are called in during the hours of darkness, Co-ordinators will call in some or all of our Specalised Search Units
• While this is being done, the Medical Officer will call in the Red Cross Ambulance and staff and have them on standby.
• As the search progresses and once the Primary Response has been put in train, the Co-ordinators will continue to assess information from all sources and will modify the search strategy according to the new information.
• In the event that we do not successfully locate the missing person in the Primary Search Area, the search area will be expanded.
• The Co-ordinators are responsible for the logistics of the search and will ensure that there is a fresh supply of search teams to continue the search. With this in mind the Co-ordinators will contact TL and let them know when they are required to be at the search centre.

Team Leaders

After being briefed by the Coordinators the TL’s instruct their team members. Each team consists of five to six people.
The TL is responsible for ensuring that his/her team is properly equipped with the necessary equipment (high-vis vests, lamps etc).
TL’s have been trained and their team’s safety is their priority at all times.

Team Members

The last link in the chain are the team members. TM’s are the all important foot soldiers.
When a search is in progress, TM take direction from their TL, thus ensuring a proper and efficient chain of command which results in thorough and complete searching of their designated area.

Our specialised units:

In addition to our standard ground searchers, ADSAR has 5 specialised search units. Depending on the nature, timing and location of the search the coordinators may call in some or all of these units.

(1) We have dedicated night unit consisting of 30 people in the event that the call out occurs in the hours of darkness.
(2) We have a dedicated water search unit consisting of 10 members in the event of the search area contains a river that needs to be searched
(3) We have 3 trained divers on our sub aqua unit in the event of the search area contains a lake or quarry that needs to be searched
(4) We have access to a mounted unit of 23 horses which are privately owned. They are invaluable in the rough mountainous terrain found in our area.
(5) We have access to a 4x4 unit that comprises quad bikes and tractors which are privately owned. They are almost always called as they are very effective

In addition we have formed a strong linkage with the local Red Cross and they have attended every training session and search to date. They are invaluable to us.

Commitee Members

Nicky Cotter (Chairman)
Jimmy Cahil (Assistant Chairman and Head of Finance)
Aine McCarthy (Secretary)
Kiernan Flannery (Assistant Secretary)
Liam Kelly (Treasurer)
Johnny Lyons (Assistant Treasurer)
Helen Broderick (PRO)
Dan McCarthy (Assistant PRO)
Christy Kelliher (Equipment Officer)

If someone is missing:

Please contact any of our commitee members.

Callout telephone numbers >>

How you can help ADSAR:

To find out more on how you can help us, please contact us at info@adsar.org