A TEAM of volunteer urban search and rescue specialists has been training on Dartmoor over the last week.

In 2010, RAPID UK selected 24 people from more than 900 applicants for a place on the charity's training programme. The volunteers are usually deployed to disasters like the earthquake in Haiti.

It takes almost two years of regular training to develop the skills needed to work effectively in such a difficult environment, and the new recruits were put through their paces on rugged moorland terrain.

For five days they took part in a simulation exercise of the most extreme disaster they could face, and were pushed to their limits.

A fictional earthquake struck on Tuesday evening and the volunteers swung into action. After meeting at their Gloucester headquarters the team were deployed to search an area on Dartmoor on Wednesday June 6, culminating in a water exercise.

They then moved to a difficult border crossing, followed by a series of technical searches to locate and rescue casualties buried deep beneath building collapses.

RAPID UK members have been involved in rescue and response at every major international earthquake over the last 17 years, including Kobe in 1995, Pakistan in 2005 and Haiti in 2010. With more than 20 years' experience in international disaster response, the non-governmental organisation is made up of a team of unpaid volunteers, who aim to save lives through instant mobilisation.

For more information on the work of RAPID UK, visit http://www.rapiduk.org.uk">www.rapiduk.org.uk