"An important part of our mission to society is ensuring rapid, professional, and compassionate support for people affected by serious incidents. Through our collaboration with the Red Cross, we are adding further expertise and capacity to our emergency response organization," says OFFB Managing Director Ole Jacob Haug.
The partnership is an important contribution to further developing OFFB's ability to support affected individuals and next of kin during crises.
When serious incidents occur, access to accurate and up-to-date information is among the most important needs for both those affected and their families. For this reason, OFFB operates a dedicated Next of Kin call centre at Forus that can be activated at short notice.
The call centre is capable of handling inquiries around the clock and is staffed by five on-duty team leaders and a total of 35 operators. When activated, ten people can manage incoming calls simultaneously.
Experience and Compassionate Support Skills
Call centre operators provide information that has been quality assured and approved by the company responsible for managing the incident. At the same time, they must be prepared to assist people with a wide range of questions, reactions, and emotions. This makes confidence, expertise, and training essential
The Red Cross volunteers who have completed the training course come from Stavanger, Sandnes, Bryne, Sola, and Rogaland Red Cross. The group represents a broad range of experience and expertise, and all participants have received training in psychosocial first aid.
Many of the volunteers have experience from the oil and gas industry, while others work as nurses, teachers, or in other care-related professions. This combination of emergency response expertise and human-centred skills strengthens OFFB's ability to meet the needs of affected individuals and their families in challenging situations.
"A major advantage is that the volunteers are already mentally prepared and have reflected on what they may encounter in such a role. We are impressed by the competence and experience they bring, and we look forward to a long-term partnership that will strengthen the emergency response capabilities of both organizations," says Haug.
Working Together for Stronger Emergency Response
Rogaland Red Cross views the collaboration as an important opportunity to contribute volunteer emergency response expertise within a professional emergency response organization.
"We are proud of the trust OFFB has shown us. Our volunteers have extensive experience supporting people in challenging situations, and we are pleased to contribute to strengthening emergency response capabilities within the offshore and energy sectors," says Per Arne Lea, Managing Director of Rogaland Red Cross.
He believes the partnership will also provide valuable learning opportunities for both organizations.
"When volunteer and professional emergency response organizations work together, we build expertise that benefits society as a whole," says Lea.
This fall, OFFB and the Red Cross will conduct new training courses to educate additional volunteers and further develop the partnership.
