Last volunteer diving team of the Drenthe fire brigade threatens to stop: ‘Oppressive requirements’

The diving teams from Assen and Emmen are deployed approximately fifty times a year in water accidents. In most cases it concerns a car that has ended up in a ditch or canal or a person in trouble in a swimming hole or pond. “In general, you see nothing at all during a deployment. Then it is black before your eyes, then everything is by touch,” says diving coordinator Martijn Louissen. “It’s risky.”

And so training is necessary. Although Assen is a volunteer diving team, professional requirements are set. “They have to be inspected every year, make 30 dives per 24 months, and for a diving team leader also 30 dives per 24 months. If you have a dual function, you have to make 60 dives per 24 months,” Louissen summarizes. ‘Oppressive requirements’, he thinks. “That’s all on top of it, because they are all just firefighters at their post, in addition to the current work they have during the week. We ask quite a lot of these people. Fortunately, they are super motivated and they do it with all the love, but It is a barrier to getting new people.”

And what if the volunteers become full professionals? According to Louissen, that does not solve everything. “We are originally volunteers, that is how the entire organization is set up. We have to look at alternatives, how we can offer a good alternative for assistance in the event of water accidents through volunteerism.”