The IEC is the UN's voluntary, independent, peer review process, to classify international Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams according to their operational capabilities in order to ensure that only qualified and appropriately trained international USAR resources are deployed to an emergency providing rapid professional USAR support during disasters which result in structural collapse.

Following a stringent 2 year application procedure and submission of a successful portfolio of evidence to the INSARAG Secretariat, SARAID are due to undertake their Light Team IEC classification exercise in September 2022 and will be the first voluntary team in the UK to undertake this process and demonstrate that they have the capabilities to meet the UN's INSARAG required standard.

In order to undertake this exercise we have been required to undertake additional expenditure above and beyond our usual operational costs. This includes additional training, upgrading our equipment, increased transport costs and the costs to host the exercise and the UN assessors.

We desperately need these vital funds to remain operational and able to deploy.