Search and Rescue

The Off-Road Rescue Unit is a highly-trained crew of unpaid volunteer 4x4 owners in South Africa.

The Unit  works closely with local, regional and national Emergency Management Services, Disaster Management, the South African Air Force, Civil Aviation (Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre), the South African Police Service, K9 Search and Rescue Association, the Mountain Club of South Africa Search and Rescue, and other official and civilian volunteer organisations. 

The Unit provides wilderness and urban search and rescue services, transport, logistical support, and radio communications, in rough terrain and urban areas in times of need including civil, national or international emergency. 

Each year, the Unit receives more than fifty calls for assistance and in more than half of these instances, our resources were required and members were mobilised and deployed.

Members of the Unit take part in regular theoretical and practical training exercises at least twice monthly. Training is often held in conjunction with official emergency services and other volunteer organisations and includes such activities as

first-aid/medical training

search and rescue procedure

patient extrication

radio communications

helicopter-borne insertion and extraction

map reading

navigation by GPS

maps and compass

rope rescue techniques

mountain rescue training

off-road driving

vehicle recovery

vehicle maintenance and

fire fighting.

Once a member has attained the necessary level of competence he becomes Rescue Qualified and will become an asset to any search and rescue mission or emergency task.

Great satisfaction is derived by members of the Unit from serving their fellow man, but this comes at a high cost in terms of intrusion into family, social and business time, and also the cost of financing equipment. Each member's 4x4 vehicle and the extensive range of equipment it contains, is funded by the member.

An annual training camp, held over a few days towards the end of each year, is where the theory and practice is put to the test with a mock call-out and rescue exercise that can proceed non-stop through the night no matter what the weather, over hundreds of kilometers. During this training camp the members' equipment and preparedness is put to the test to ensure that we are capable of delivering the level of professionalism required.

The Unit's administrative structure is such that one telephone call is all that is required to put the whole call-out system into action, resulting in trained volunteer members in fully-equipped 4x4s being ready to leave on a search and rescue or disaster management mission, anywhere in the country within the hour.

In addition, the Unit makes a further contribution to the community at large by offering a communications, management and medical infrastructure to organisers of outdoor sporting events such as road-running marathons, cycle races, mountain bike challenges and off-road motor racing events. These events generate income for the Unit which is used to maintain our Mobile Command Post trailers and the wide range of expensive communications and medical equipment they contain.