The principal aims of the organisation are:

• To promote and co-ordinate adequate search and rescue arrangements in the lowland areas of the United Kingdom and its offshore islands.
• To assist and advise statutory bodies in lowland search and rescue work.
• To promote and encourage discourse and co-operation between any and all search and rescue organisations in the United Kingdom.

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ALSAR’s national role is to coordinate the national provision of Lowland Search & Rescue resources, set standards of competence for all involved in operational deployments, to represent and support our units and to help develop and shape Search & Rescue in the UK.

ALSAR takes a ‘need’ based approach to the provision of units, ensuring that every county or Police Service (usually one and the same) has at least one ALSAR unit available to them. Where a Police Service covers multiple counties (such as Thames Valley Police) then there can be multiple units.

ALSAR defines the minimum standards for Lowland SAR units and its personnel but in reality all units work above and beyond these standards to provide enhanced services. By utilising common minimum standards ALSAR can ensure interoperability between units.

In furtherance of the aims ALSAR is also active in developing and promoting standards of best practice for Lowland SAR units as well as providing help and guidance to new and/or developing units.

ALSAR is run by a management committee which is made up by representatives of its member units as well as co-opted members who bring their own skills and expertise into the organisation.

ALSAR has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW) and seeks to maintain close links with such organisations and our goal is to ensure that all lowland areas of the UK have access to a specialised lowland SAR unit.

ALSAR is a member of the government's UKSAR Operators Group and is represented from time to time on various national SAR committees.