Since its inception, TSF has deployed equipment in 50 countries, including Iraq and post-tsunami Thailand, where it has a permanent operations centre. Given the demand for its services, the organisation has plans to expand its staff and volunteer base as long as it doesn't affect its responsiveness, explains Walton. "We are not looking to be a huge NGO [non-governmental organisation] because in terms of reactivity if you grow then it takes time for decisions to be taken, but we could be doing much more, and to have more staff in emergencies but also in other missions such as prevention," he says.
The last-minute reactivity required to respond to an emergency means that, at the moment, TSF's staff are based close to its headquarters in Pau in southern France. However, plans to increase the number of longer-term development projects could see the organisation recruit volunteers and staff more widely, including from the UK.
"We mainly focus on IT and telecoms engineers — preferably living close to our headquarters. When you need to be on a plane in a few hours it's hard to integrate people outside our region," says Walton.
All new TSF recruits are required to do a week's training and undertake an actual mission — you can only see the quality of people once they are in the situation, says Watson. The training course involves two to three days of technical training and one or two days of living in difficult conditions, with security procedures and the various cultural aspects that are entailed.
If you want more information on TSF, or to make a donation, more information is available on their website.
