Search expert: Wise to have a relative know your secret mushroom spot
People heading into the woods should wear white clothing or a neon-colored reflective vest, determine their location before entering the woods and tell a family member or trusted friend where their secret mushroom-picking spot is, a PPA expert told ERR.
Every year, police have to search the woods for dozens of missing mushroom pickers. Last year, there were more than 170 such cases.
There are several ways to search for missing people. "The terrain has a major impact on which method we choose. Is it a patch of woodland surrounded on all sides by a highway, railway or settlement, meaning that whichever way you go, you'll eventually come out of the woods? Or is it a forest that starts near Rõngu and, figuratively speaking, you don't come out of it until after Riga?" said Kert Kotkas, head of the Police and Border Guard Board's (PPA) remote monitoring unit.
Whenever a drone can be used in a search, it is. "Even if we don't find the person, we can use a drone to rule out some places where we know they definitely aren't," Kotkas said, adding that no forest offers ideal conditions for a drone.
When the weather is overcast and even the tops of cell towers are shrouded in clouds, it is very difficult for a helicopter to fly to a location and begin operations. "Drones are also limited in how high they can fly and it's possible that the only thing that can help is a good dog," Kotkas said.
"If we know where the mushroom picker may have entered the woods, the person's scent may still be on the ground. The dog can pick up the scent and follow the trail. If the mushroom picker's vehicle has been left somewhere, it's better not to touch it and to call in a dog handler who can start from the scene and track down the missing person," dog handler Allan Kaljur said.
Mushroom pickers can also do quite a lot themselves to help rescuers find them quickly.
"Police ask what the person was wearing when they went into the woods. A white bucket and a white hat give us a better chance of finding someone quickly. In Estonian forests, one of the best things to wear is a neon-colored reflective vest, which is extremely visible regardless of the season," Kotkas said.
According to Kotkas, there are also times when the drone pilot and dog handler can be physically close to each other. "Estonian forests can be such dense thickets that it's entirely possible not to see a person in the brush just three meters away from you," Kotkas said.
"During the day, nothing beats white clothing and a white bucket; they are very easy to spot with a drone. Once a missing person has been found, a drone equipped with a loudspeaker can be used to call out to them and if they follow the drone, we can guide them out of the woods," Kotkas said, explaining the drone's role in the search process.
Police say people should get as clear an idea as possible of their location on a map before entering the woods and share it with a friend. "You don't have to tell the whole world about your secret mushroom-picking spots, but you should share them with a circle of trusted friends," Kotkas said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Annika Remmel
Source: "Ringvaade"
