paramedics

Three people were seriously injured and nine others were hurt at an apartment complex in The Hague after smoke caused by several car fires billowed into their building. Several people were rescued by firefighters on ladders and aerial platforms as first responders evacuated part of the street.

At least five vehicles parked in a car port on the street showed signs of fire damage. Suffocating clouds of black smoke rose from the street into the apartment windows above, leading to the injuries

An hours long search for a missing boy on the IJsselmeer had a happy ending on Monday night. The 13-year-old from Urk was found alive and well on Houtribdijk near IJsselmeer, the Coast Guard said on Twitter.

The boy took a sloop onto the IJsselmeer from Urk early on Monday evening, according to NU.nl. When he did not return home, a large search involving a helicopter and multiple lifeboats from rescue organization KNRM was launched. The coast guard, a few fishing cutters, the fire brigade and the police also helped in the search. 

Emergency services acted correctly and performed their duties properly during stabbing incidents in Maastricht last year in which two people were killed, the Inspectorate of Justice and Security concluded after investigating the incident, NOS reports.

Two children were killed in a house fire that ignited Saturday morning in Emmen. The victims are a six-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister, a regional police office reported.

Their parents were not seriously injured in the blaze, and were transported to an area hospital for treatment.  Police took charge of the investigation into the incident, a fire department spokesperson told Hart van Nederland. The victims' mother was sedated at the hospital, while the father was kept apprised of the ongoing situation.

An 8-year-old boy from Belgium drowned in a natural pool on the Flaasbloem campgrounds in in Chaam, Noord-Brabant on Wednesday afternoon. The boy was visiting family at the campsite, NU.nl reports.

Alarm was sounded on the campsite around 5:00 p.m. when the boy from Zonnebeke was nowhere to be found. Police, firefighters, paramedics and an air ambulance responded to the site, because there were concerns that the child ended up in the natural pool.

A 33-year-old man was arrested in Oosterhout on Monday afternoon after he kidnapped a baby in Breda. The baby was found safe and unharmed, still in the man's possession. Paramedics took care of the baby while the seemingly disturbed man was arrested, AD reports.

The man has some kind of connection with the child, though the police would not confirm the relationship due to privacy concerns. The police did say that the man had an appointment with aid workers and a woman at aid organization Veilig Thuis and that he took the baby from there. 

From today until Thursday the port of Rotterdam will be the scene of large drills on what to do during terrorist attacks or other large emergencies and threats. The port protection exercise is called "Port Defender Rotterdam" and includes the Royal Navy, the National Police, the Port of Rotterdam and the local safety office Veiligheidsregio Rotterdam-Rijnmond, AD reports.

Inflatable toys sent first responders in Amsterdam and Roosendaal rushing to the rescue on Christmas day. Amsterdam police responded to what turned out to be a inflatable crocodile in one of the canals. And the Roosendaal police discovered their dead body was a naked blow-up doll.

Several police units in Amsterdam responded to the canal on 1e Constantijn Huygenstraat after someone reported a crocodile swimming in the canal. At the scene the police did find a crocodile, though this one did not seem to be much of a threat - it was an inflatable pool toy.

A 3-year-old boy died in Zaandam on Monday after he ended up in the waters of the Zuidervaart. Emergency services tried to resuscitate him and he was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late to save him, the police said on Twitter.

A man was killed in an accident during work under a sewer pipe on Letostraat in Tilburg on Monday morning. A trench collapsed, causing an avalanche of sand and trapping the man between the pipe and the sand, a police spokesperson said to Omroep Brabant.

For the first time in history ambulance staff across the nation embarked on a simultaneous strike action after wage negotiations stalled with employer Ambulancezorg Netherlands (AZN).Employees participating in the mass strike action only responded to emergency situations, while scheduled patient transport was be put on hold.