30 October 2019
15 personnel from the St Helena Emergency Control Room, Sea Rescue, Fire & Rescue and Police Services last week participated in training delivered by the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency and UK College of Policing.
The Emergency Control Room, Sea Rescue, and Police Service underwent the following training with Philipp Bostock and Rob Priestley of the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency:
Emergency Control Room – receiving and relaying distress calls, gathering information, deploying resources and communicating with the Global Maritime Coordination Centres
Sea Rescue Service – conducting search mission planning in line with international search standards and how to best utilise Global Maritime Coordination Centres as a search planning resource
The Police Service – Police Commanders were given an insight into both maritime and land search, including what to expect from the teams on the ground, what challenges the teams would face and how to reach overseas for advice /support if needed
The Fire & Rescue Service underwent a three day Search and Rescue training course with Area Commander Paul Duffy of the UK College of Policing. This training allowed the Fire Fighters as Search Technicians to gain the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed by a team member during a search, and equipped participants with the skills and knowledge required for lost/missing person incidents and be able to apply them confidently.
Daniel Yon, Damien Stevens, Matthew Benjamin, Jason Lawrence and Kyle Yon were also selected to undertake the Search Technician Team Leader training, where they received training in preparing and planning the deployment of a team, supervising and monitoring the conduct of the search team, understanding how to deal with incidents encountered during a search, understanding how to manage crime scenes and evidence and managing Information and resources post search
Acting Brigade Manager, Daniel Yon, said:
“The training went very well and we would like to extend our thanks to Area Commander Paul Duffy and the UK College of Policing.
“The Search Technician and Search Technician Team Leader qualifications are essential for the St Helena Fire and Rescue Service. As Search Technicians we are responsible for turning up to a search with the appropriate clothing and equipment and being fit and well enough to go out and search for the missing person/s.
“We are required to be competent in the key aspects of search including navigation, radio operation, first aid, scenes of crime preservation and rescue techniques. The training last week has enabled this.”
At the end of the week all four Services came together to participate in a joint exercise.
Emergency Planning & Sea Rescue Manager, Simon Wade, concluded:
“The training was well received. The beginning of the week involved a lot of studying of the different ways to gather information, how to use that information to develop the search plan and then how to deliver the plan. At the end of the week there was an exercise which involved all four elements (Police Commander, Emergency Control Room, Sea Rescue and Fire and Rescue Services).The exercise went well and there was some great learning achieved from it. Overall, it was a greatly informative week and I believe it was enjoyed by all.”
This training was funded by the Overseas Territories Search and Rescue Capability Review Project, part of the CSSF OT Maritime Governance and Environment programme.
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SHG
30 October 2019