The mission of Norsk Folkehjelp (Norwegian People's Aid), a volunteer professional search and rescue team in Norway, is to protect lives. Trust plays an important role in this. For a team that is on call 365 days a year, 24 hours every day, it is essential to trust yourself and your team members. With the life of the person being rescued as well as their own lives at stake, the team must trust in each individual's knowledge and ability to successfully complete the task and return home safely.
The volunteer members of Norwegian People's Aid can only build trust if they all pull together and rely on each other - in every situation and environment. Each team member knows the qualities of the others - their strengths and weaknesses - through the various challenges they face in training and in carrying out a search and rescue mission.
"It's very important that we ourselves know where our boundaries are," says Anne-Kristin, an NFH volunteer member.
"We can't do anything unless it's 100% safe and we feel safe because we have to put our own safety first, always. No matter what the situation is, we can't do anything that puts ourselves in danger."
In order to function as a team and successfully complete a mission, each member of the team must feel secure and trust that they can rely on each other, no matter what.
To become a member of Norwegian People's Aid, there are numerous courses and exams that must be passed, including a first aid course, individual search and rescue exercises, and written tests. In addition, there are weekly team trainings to practice and recreate various challenging scenarios.
Because everyone must complete extensive and thorough training, team members can be confident that they are equipped with the knowledge and experience necessary to safely carry out a rescue mission in the harsh conditions of the Norwegian mountains.
After each mission, there is a debriefing for the entire team to share and learn from each other. "We have a rule in our team that after a mission, no matter what the outcome, we don't let anyone go home without talking to them first. It's important for members to tell how they experienced the rescue situation. None of us is more important than the other."
In order to keep themselves and others safe during a rescue operation, Norwegian People's Aid must trust their gear completely so they don't have to worry about it. Their clothing was developed together with the designers from Helly Hansen. The goal: sensible, professional gear that the team can rely on to provide the best protection in unpredictable, harsh conditions. While their job requires them to venture into rough terrain, Norwegian People's Aid can trust that their gear will help. True to the motto "Feel and stay alive."
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