I would like to take this opportunity to Publically thank all involved in last nights missing person search. While we train for such events and have policies, procedures and guidelines, one never really knows how successful it is until deployed.
During the early hours last night we received a report of a depressed female who had left her residence and had not been seen for several hours. As first responders, we get one shot at this and our decisions can be life critical.
The first thing the on-duty officer does in this case is actually confirm that the person is missing. We look at friends, relatives, cellphone calls etc. to see if anyone knows where the victim is.
Once we were not able to locate her in this case, we needed more resources and called for help. Farmington and Milton Police provided personnel to assist in circling the area where she was last known to be, thus establishing a perimeter. Off duty Middleton Police personnel were called into work. Scheduling plans were discussed in the event that this went over night or into a several day search.
We obtained a picture of the missing person and sent that picture to the police officers as well as patrol officers in neighboring communities who started checking public stores and buildings to see if anyone had seen the missing person.
The person was believed to be in a wooded area behind her residence. Because the time period was long, the best police dog for this type of search is a bloodhound.
We contacted the New Hampshire State Police and requested the use of their Bloodhound Unit In addition, their SERT Team which is specially trained in search and rescue was activated and off duty personnel were dispatched to our scene.
A command center was set up on Governor's Road in Town. The road was dark and we had a lot of personnel on the ground. Middleton Fire and Rescue responded and provided us with lighting. In addition, we were having radio problems because of the geography of the area and we requested the use of their command vehicle to communicate with our dispatch.
As search teams arrived and planned on entering the wooded area, Fire Department Ambulance Personnel and Firefighters staged at the Middleton Fire Department ready to respond to medical issues.
We use our social media and mobile application to communicate with our citizens and neighbors. First we put out an alert as to what we were doing so there was no public alarm. This saved unnecessary calls to the dispatch center which was taxed with multiple assignments.
The Strafford County Dispatch Center took our multiple requests and performed them perfectly. The 911 Center and Dispatch worked hand and hand to help us accomplish our goals.
Middleton Emergency management sprang into action with a simple but much needed task. They were asked to provide water to the first responders to keep them hydrated. One of our top priorities is to keep personnel healthy so they can perform their assigned tasks well.
Strafford Dispatch sent out bolo information at our request asking all agencies to be on the look out for the missing person.
We then made the decision to go public with a photograph and physical description of the missing person. We asked our community members to share that information with their social media contacts. In addition, many of our partners in the press monitor our social media and mobile application. Within a push of a button we reached all our New Hampshire Press Partners as well as all the Boston television news stations.
Approximately 15 minutes after the alert went out, the Missing Person returned home. She was provided medical care and transported to the Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The night ended well. An alert was put out cancelling the missing person alert.
6000 members of the public saw our alerts in 15 minutes of time. We were able to multiply our eyes and ears by such a large number of community members in a town of approximately 1800. This spread to neighboring communities which was so important as we were dealing with a huge time gap.
Also during a critical event, all manpower are dedicated to the call. During this event we did have a suspicious vehicle call in and our neighboring community of New Durham responded at our request.
With everything going on and the attention to detail a critical event demands, we often neglect to say thank you. Special Thanks to all our Partners in Law Enforcement and the Fire Service for a job well done. And a special thanks to our community members and beyond by helping us in a time of crisis by sharing our information. It is the Cooperation and Coordination of all First Responders and the community which makes for a successful conclusion as we saw last night. A life was saved because of the outpouring of expertise and our valuable partnerships between first responders, the public and our news media relationships. To all Thank you!
During the early hours last night we received a report of a depressed female who had left her residence and had not been seen for several hours. As first responders, we get one shot at this and our decisions can be life critical.
The first thing the on-duty officer does in this case is actually confirm that the person is missing. We look at friends, relatives, cellphone calls etc. to see if anyone knows where the victim is.
Once we were not able to locate her in this case, we needed more resources and called for help. Farmington and Milton Police provided personnel to assist in circling the area where she was last known to be, thus establishing a perimeter. Off duty Middleton Police personnel were called into work. Scheduling plans were discussed in the event that this went over night or into a several day search.
We obtained a picture of the missing person and sent that picture to the police officers as well as patrol officers in neighboring communities who started checking public stores and buildings to see if anyone had seen the missing person.
The person was believed to be in a wooded area behind her residence. Because the time period was long, the best police dog for this type of search is a bloodhound.
We contacted the New Hampshire State Police and requested the use of their Bloodhound Unit In addition, their SERT Team which is specially trained in search and rescue was activated and off duty personnel were dispatched to our scene.
A command center was set up on Governor's Road in Town. The road was dark and we had a lot of personnel on the ground. Middleton Fire and Rescue responded and provided us with lighting. In addition, we were having radio problems because of the geography of the area and we requested the use of their command vehicle to communicate with our dispatch.
As search teams arrived and planned on entering the wooded area, Fire Department Ambulance Personnel and Firefighters staged at the Middleton Fire Department ready to respond to medical issues.
We use our social media and mobile application to communicate with our citizens and neighbors. First we put out an alert as to what we were doing so there was no public alarm. This saved unnecessary calls to the dispatch center which was taxed with multiple assignments.
The Strafford County Dispatch Center took our multiple requests and performed them perfectly. The 911 Center and Dispatch worked hand and hand to help us accomplish our goals.
Middleton Emergency management sprang into action with a simple but much needed task. They were asked to provide water to the first responders to keep them hydrated. One of our top priorities is to keep personnel healthy so they can perform their assigned tasks well.
Strafford Dispatch sent out bolo information at our request asking all agencies to be on the look out for the missing person.
We then made the decision to go public with a photograph and physical description of the missing person. We asked our community members to share that information with their social media contacts. In addition, many of our partners in the press monitor our social media and mobile application. Within a push of a button we reached all our New Hampshire Press Partners as well as all the Boston television news stations.
Approximately 15 minutes after the alert went out, the Missing Person returned home. She was provided medical care and transported to the Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The night ended well. An alert was put out cancelling the missing person alert.
6000 members of the public saw our alerts in 15 minutes of time. We were able to multiply our eyes and ears by such a large number of community members in a town of approximately 1800. This spread to neighboring communities which was so important as we were dealing with a huge time gap.
Also during a critical event, all manpower are dedicated to the call. During this event we did have a suspicious vehicle call in and our neighboring community of New Durham responded at our request.
With everything going on and the attention to detail a critical event demands, we often neglect to say thank you. Special Thanks to all our Partners in Law Enforcement and the Fire Service for a job well done. And a special thanks to our community members and beyond by helping us in a time of crisis by sharing our information. It is the Cooperation and Coordination of all First Responders and the community which makes for a successful conclusion as we saw last night. A life was saved because of the outpouring of expertise and our valuable partnerships between first responders, the public and our news media relationships. To all Thank you!
Comments
Post a Comment