The Inland Flood Rescue Association which is a non governmental organisation, was formed in 2008 to give the UK's independent volunteer flood and water rescue teams a national voice and support network in order to establish good practice, national training standards and operational protocols. 

As you can see by watching the above video clip about the Cumbria floods in 2009, urban flood rescue, searching rivers, lakes, lochs and wetlands is in fact a very dangerous, complicated and specialised discipline that requires health & safety considerations, specialist equipment, specialist training and exceptional motivation from all personnel involved.

IFRA aims to provide a focused, pragmatic approach to help associate teams achieve an operational level which will allow them to comply with the current DEFRA flood rescue concept of operations (team typing) regulations and ultimately achieve a DEFRA team type grading, therefore assuring governing bodies and the emergency services a level of competence that they can be assured will be compatible with other agencies used in flooding emergencies such as Cumbria floods of 2009.

IFRA encourages affiliated teams to establish strong working relationships with local authority emergency planning departments, police and fire & rescue services and to participate in joint training with other agencies and other IFRA teams.

In 2010 IFRA management commitee made the decision to commence with the formation, training and equipping of  an IFRA National Flood & Swiftwater Rescue Team. As a direct result of this decision IFRA now accepts applications from individuals who posses any relevant water rescue skills such as swiftwater responder, swiftwater rescue technician, swiftwater boat operator, powerboat coxswain, etc.

If you are a volunteer team which provides water rescue or an individual with relevant skills and would like to become involved with IFRA we would be pleased to hear from you info@floodrescueuk.com .