1. We are not talking about a young person who leaves home and runs away. This is about a group activity, away from the centre, during which a young member of the group becomes separated from the rest, or fails to turn up at the agreed meeting place. This is not a crisis, and it may not be an emergency. But it does help if you respond calmly and quickly.
2. First action is to assess the situation. How late back are they? How long have they been missing? What is the most likely explanation? This may depend on their age, experience, frame of mind, knowledge of the area and so on. Some people are hopeless timekeepers. Some have a lousy sense of direction. Others have a tendency to get into scrapes. Remember that the worst-case scenarios are extremely rare. Assess the chances of other possibilities, such as that they met up with some others and decided to make their own way back.
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