West Cornwall Search & Rescue: Looe and Cusgarne call-outs both end well

When someone goes missing in West Cornwall, the volunteers who answer the call give up their evenings, their sleep and their weekends without a second thought. Two recent searches, one on the south coast and one in a village near Truro, ended the way everyone hoped they would.

A high-risk search around Looe

On 25 June, West Cornwall Search & Rescue Team were contacted by Devon & Cornwall Police to help search for a high-risk missing person in the Looe area.

By the time they were called in, colleagues from the East Cornwall Search & Rescue Team had already been out through the night. West Cornwall then joined forces with teams from Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team – Plymouth and Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team – Tavistock.

The missing person was found safe and well.

Thirteen volunteers deployed at Cusgarne

Less than a week later, on 1 July, the team was called out again. Devon & Cornwall Police asked for help finding a high-risk missing person with dementia at Cusgarne.

Thirteen volunteer call-out members deployed to search the most probable areas, working alongside a team from Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England. After the police issued a public appeal, the missing person was spotted by a member of the public and reunited with their family by police officers.

Why the partnerships matter

Both searches leaned on the same thing: emergency services, volunteer search and rescue teams, specialist search dog handlers and the public all pulling in the same direction to bring vulnerable people home safely.

Every member of West Cornwall Search & Rescue is a volunteer. The team is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, ready to assist the emergency services in searching for missing, vulnerable and injured people across West Cornwall. It relies entirely on public donations to keep going, and anyone who wants to help can make a donation through the team’s support page.

The team are proud members of Mountain Rescue England and Wales and the British Cave Rescue Council, and they recently received the King’s Award for Voluntary Service.