Eoin Murray


Eoin Murray

Eoin volunteers with Exmoor Search & Rescue, where he serves as Chair, Team Member and Training Officer. His operational specialism is water rescue, and he is a swiftwater and flood rescue instructor, powerboat rescue operator, Water Team Commander, and Water Incident Manager, aligned to the DEFRA Flood Rescue Concept of Operations (modules 3 to 5). He also serves as a DEFRA Flood Rescue Tactical Advisor (module 6). He previously acted as Water Officer for the Peninsula Mountain and Cave Rescue Association. He holds a Diploma in Specialist Rescue and is a member of the Institute of Search and Technical Rescue. His service has been recognised with both the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal and the King’s Coronation Medal for services to Mountain Rescue. Eoin is a part winner at SAR Games and has a deep interest in how competition leads to learning and improved performance.

Date unspecified
Location unspecified

In Competition leads to learning, I will explore why well-designed competition can be one of the fastest ways to improve real-world Search and Rescue performance. Drawing on our experience as two-time winners of the SAR Games, a weekend format that blends SAR tasks, navigation, teamwork and realistic first aid scenarios, I show how friendly rivalry creates a safe pressure-cooker for practice, feedback and cross-pollination between teams. We’ll connect those lessons to Scott C Hammond’s work in Highly Reliable Teams on what highly reliable teams do differently when failure is not an option, and translate that into practical habits teams can take home on Monday morning. I will be joined by Sverre Rakkenes, from Svelvik Rode Kors whose brainchild the SAR Games is