Volunteers of great importance for rescue station Wijdenes: “It’s all about seconds”

Mark Hennevanger is one of these volunteers. He has been active at rescue station Wijdenes for 11 years and has already experienced a lot in that period. “Last summer, for example, there was an incident in which a canoe had capsized and the occupants could not swim. Fortunately, they were pulled out of the water by bystanders.”

If it weren’t for those bystanders, it probably would have ended badly. “In such cases it is all about seconds and then you come very close to life and death,” says Hennevanger. He also says that as a rescue team you often only have one chance to save someone. “If you have the chance to get someone and you miss that chance, that can stop the survival instinct of the person in need.”

To be well prepared for situations like this, the volunteers practice a lot. Sometimes during these exercises they even take on the role of a drowning person to experience what it is like to be rescued. In addition, they work closely with other emergency services, such as the police and the fire brigade.

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“It really is a special experience to work for the rescue brigade,” says Hennevanger enthusiastically. “You experience unique situations that you don’t just experience as an ordinary citizen.” An example of this is the helicopter exercise with the Coast Guard: “We hoist the personnel of the helicopter and lifeboat back and forth while sailing. Then you also fly with the helicopter yourself.”

In principle, anyone can register as a volunteer. Experience is not required, but it is important that you are fit, are not afraid of water and can take a bit of a beating. Despite being volunteer work, it takes four years to be fully trained.