According to latest data, Fire & Rescue Services in England attended:
2,411 “rescue or evacuation from water” incidents in the year to March 2024, the highest since national incident reporting began.
This includes:
- Swiftwater rescues from rivers and fast-moving floodwater
- Vehicle water rescues — often under challenging hydrodynamic conditions
- Urban flash flooding and entrapment
- Evacuations from domestic and commercial properties threatened by rising water
For many services, these incidents are no longer outliers but a predictable and increasingly frequent operational risk, driven by climate volatility and local topographies.
This underlines the critical importance of having well-drilled, properly equipped teams trained to SRT (Swiftwater & Flood Rescue Technician) standards, with embedded dynamic risk assessment skills, safe systems of work, and familiarity with hydrology, search techniques, and casualty management in aquatic environments.
At Red One, we deliver accredited Rescue 3 Europe SRT courses tailored to FRS needs including modular options that adapt to local river conditions, site-specific hazards, and seasonal hydrology. We can also advise on maintaining competence through realistic scenario-based training.
If your service is reviewing your water rescue capability, operational resilience, or strategic risk profile under NFCC and local IRMP requirements, we’d be glad to support.
Let’s ensure firefighters are not just equipped but truly prepared to operate safely and decisively in these increasingly complex environments.