Search and rescue teams in Kent are being given more powers to help people in crisis in what is understood to be the first initiative of its kind in the country.

During a six-month trial Kent Search & Rescue was given two desks in Kent Police's Force Control Room to deal with low-risk concern for welfare calls.

It led to volunteers dealing with 140 calls - taking vital pressure off the force - and such was the success of the project it is set to become permanent.

Some examples of calls KSAR dealt with included:

• An elderly mother from Ashford who's son lives in Leeds and could not get an answer to her home phone for three days
• A man making suicidal threats in a hotel room in Maidstone
• A young single mother in Folkestone who was having a mental health crisis but just needed someone to talk to
• An elderly man who had walked out of hospital and lost contact with hospital staff
• A teenage girl from Dartford who had a row with her parents and disappeared from her home in the middle of the night

Police in Kent deal with around 10,000 missing person calls a year, but search and rescue teams were formerly only brought in to help with the most serious high risk cases - which meant around 100-120 a year.

Now KSAR teams will get involved earlier to give them the opportunity to prevent a large scale incident from unfolding.

Stewart Baird, operations director at KSAR, said the initiative followed concerns about the rising number of welfare calls and the impact of mental health issues on policing.

"KSAR's experience is that over 50% of these incidents are mental health related," he said.

"The Police and Crime Commissioner has been raising concerns about the increasing impact of mental health issues on policing and these numbers support the view that this is a major challenge to policing in the modern age.

"Our crews are given extensive training which covers, dealing with mental health crisis, negotiating skills, risk management and a variety of personal safety skills.

"These crews are only being sent to low risk incidents where there is genuine concern for the wellbeing of the subject but no risk of violence or threat to our team members.

"We believe this is a first initiative of its type in the country.

"Many county police forces work with their local search and rescue teams but typically in a reactive manner - after the person has gone missing.

"This initiative brings the search and rescue teams to the forefront of an incident and gives us the opportunity to prevent a large scale incident unfold."

KSAR provide 'patrols' - comprising of a vehicle with two crew on board, one of which is a medic - which are deployed across Kent every weekend; and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott, has pledged to provide two extra KSAR vehicles before Christmas.

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