3.2 Phase Two - The First 72 Hours

• Locate office space for the Recovery Center. It is better to have too much space than too little. Plan for several hundred people a day to come through the Recovery Center. Allow for ample parking, restrooms, medical care, water, food, etc. See section on Physical Facility.
• Guidance and trained personnel should be sought from professional child-search organizations such as the Heidi Search Center, Polly Klass Foundation, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (Section on Missing Child Organizations).
• Institute security measures immediately upon opening the Recovery Center (Section on Recovery Center Security). Begin civilian tracking, including background checks (seek advice and cooperation from local law enforcement) of volunteers with access to sensitive information, valid driver's license or other photo ID, and liability waivers See Figure: Volunteer Registration Agreement Form.
• Begin selecting and training volunteers to fill key management positions based upon personality, skills, contacts, and talents. The appropriate personnel will emerge! Be aware and watchful. See Figure: Organization Chart) and section on Recovery Center Organization.
• Establish a chain of command as soon as possible, with the goal of having the everyday search activity decision-making done at the lowest management level possible. Post the color coded Organization Chart / Nametag System (Figure: Organization Chart) where all volunteers can see it. This will help individuals understand where they fit in the search efforts, limit confusion, and restrict access to sensitive areas (Section on Recovery Center Security).
• One person at the Recovery Center should have a clear overview of all pertinate recovery related information that is being generated. The Director is responsible for assuring that all Information Control Forms (See Figure: Information Control Form ) and their supplements (See Figure: Information Control Supplement Form ) are analyzed, including those from the phone bank (Section on Phone Bank), debriefing (Section on Debriefing), registration area, etc.). The Director may choose to designate a trusted person to accomplish this analysis task. This person should assign a priority to the Information Control Form indicating the need for any further processing. He should be looking for possible correlations that may exist among the various information sources.
• Assign appropriate personnel to handle family liaison duties. Careful thought must be given to these selections. This is a high stress assignment (Section on Family Liaison).
• Encourage and promote private and group prayer.
• Use the media to maintain positive public involvement in the case. Coordinate all news releases with the presiding law enforcement agency. Assign a media strategist to set up regular news releases. Consider involving the family. Section on Public Affairs.
• Formalize targeting operations. Recruit and train appropriate personnel. It would be helpful if volunteers selected for this assignment have an overall knowledge of the area. Section on Targeting.
• Establish a data management system to record and track tips, leads, search results, and data that will be coming in. This must be given high priority. See Figure: Information Control Form and Section on Historian.
• Establish search team Briefing and Debriefing procedures. See sections on Briefing and Debriefing.
• Review reward wording on flyers that may already be in circulation. Word any future flyers carefully. Obtain legal advice. Laws vary per jurisdiction (Section on Legal & Financial).
• Expand the search radius to a minimum of 5 mile from the sight last seen.
• Be aware of expenses that are incurred in the heat of the search. Some bills will be deferred for the cause, some will not. It is imperative that you assign appropriate personnel to act as a treasurer and to manage finances. Bills will come in; you must plan for this in your exit strategy. See section on Legal & Financial.