Môn Search and Rescue (MÔN-SAR) are a highly trained, dedicated and motivated Welsh volunteer lowland search and rescue team that provides emergency services and specialist expertise to search for high-risk vulnerable missing people every day of the year.
The charity supports communities on Ynys Môn (Anglesey) in North Wales, and is an operational member of Lowland Rescue, which is a national association of search and rescue teams based and operating in lowland areas across England and Wales.
Their main type of call out is searching for high-risk vulnerable missing people, so their volunteer members are highly trained in search techniques. Their search plans and techniques are adapted to the category of missing person, such as those who are suicidal or despondent, living with dementia, autism and other mental health issues. They also support other search and research organisations on the mainland if the need arises.
Môn-SAR is the first lowland search and rescue team in Wales, and undertakes searches in areas up to 600 metres above sea level. Previously, such searches on Anglesey were carried out by neighbouring mountain rescue teams in Snowdonia, but these teams came under increasing demand, so MÔN-SAR was established in 2018.
Môn-SAR are tasked by North Wales Police and supplements the existing professional and volunteer search and rescue agencies on the island and the North Wales mainland, such as the Coastguard, RNLI, Cave Rescue, neighbouring mountain rescue teams and SARDA Wales search dogs.
In addition to assisting the Welsh Ambulance Service with stretcher evacuations over rough ground where the ambulance paramedics need assistance, they also get called out to help injured walkers, assess their injuries and carry them to safety if required.
And because the charity is based in Anglesey, and most of the volunteers live here, they know the island and its terrain very well, which allows the team to quickly find walkers or vulnerable persons in need of emergency assistance.
In 2023 the Randal Charitable Foundation provided grant funding to cover the cost of First Responder Emergency Care Level 3 (FREC3) Training for seven team members, which will be delivered by Outreach Medical Services (ORMS) at their base in North Wales.
