The Red Cross and the National Police are rolling out a nationwide network of search teams to help search for missing persons. The teams consist of volunteers and are trained to search without destroying any evidence.
The so-called Ready2Help teams of the Red Cross can be deployed if a person goes missing. “The police will then contact the Red Cross crisis coordinator, who will call the teams,” says a spokesman for the Red Cross.
Five to ten volunteers will then search one or more areas together with the police. As a result, the police have extra eyes and ears of volunteers who know the area well during such a search.
This provides a head start in the first phase of a missing person. A good and quick start of the search is essential and increases the chance that a missing person will be found. “It will usually be lost people, confused people and the elderly or children who no longer know their way home,” says the spokesperson.
“Volunteers first have to go to an instruction meeting,” she explains. “There they are trained to help the police as best as possible.” For example, they learn how to search without erasing important traces. They are also trained to deal with the emotional consequences of intense searches.
“It is important that everything is well coordinated. If you find something, you must first report it to the police without picking it up. They will then take action.”
Ready2Help network has been deployed before
In recent years, these types of search teams have already been deployed in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region. The experiences in that region were positive, so the Red Cross and the police decided to deploy the teams nationwide.
The first teams will start working in the Central Netherlands and North Holland police regions. The other police units follow.
The Ready2Help network of the Red Cross has existed since 2014. Until now, it has been used for incidental, major incidents. You can think of an imminent dike breach. The network consists of approximately 100,000 volunteers and has been deployed hundreds of times.
2023-05-23 04:03:13
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