Sunday 7 January 2018

Multi-Agency Search Exercise

You may have seen some of the team on the local news this week taking part in a recent exercise to test the multi-agency response to finding missing people in Dorset.

Last month, selected team members joined specially trained officers from Dorset Police and colleagues from neighbouring Coastguard teams, RNLI, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, Dorset Search and Rescue, Hampshire Search and Rescue Dogs, Dorset Search Dogs and the Royal Life Saving Society as well as the NPAS helicopter.

The first live scenario they encountered involved three missing people, including a 10-year-old boy, and a second scenario involved a vulnerable man who had been reported missing.

The exercise was based at Brownsea Island and the services worked together to plan and co-ordinate the searches and locate the missing people.

Each year we get involved in a number of searches for missing persons, and exercises such as this not only allow us  to train alongside the partner agencies we would work with,  but it also allows us to adopt a common, joined up approach to search planning and search management.

Superintendent Mike Rogers, of Dorset Police, said: “Exercises such as this are a valuable way of testing the response of the various agencies involved to major incidents, the roles they each play and how they work together in such scenarios.

“They help us test our plans and resilience and ensure that our staff are up-to-date with the latest practice.

“I would like to thank all the personnel from the various agencies and organisations who contributed to the exercise as well as the National Trust for its permission and support to run the event on Brownsea Island.”

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