The Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT; el, Ελληνική Ομάδα Διάσωσης or Elliniki Omada Diasosis) is a Greek

non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

organisation. It is run by volunteers and operating since 1978. Since 1994 it is run as an association. HRC is cooperating with the

Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( el, Υπουργός Εξωτερικών) is the senior minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece. The incumbent Minister for Foreign Affairs is Nikos Dendias of New Democracy New Democracy, ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. The Hellenic Rescue Team was awarded with the

Nansen Refugee Award The Nansen Refugee Award is awarded annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, Internally displaced person, displac ...

in 2016 and Mother Teresa Award in 2017"Mother Teresa" award goes to the Hellenic Rescue Team
/ref> for its role in the European refugee and migrant crisis.

Organisation

The headquarters of the organisation is in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. There are 34 divisions of HRT in Greece. The United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group has officially recognised HRT on the 23 of June 2005. HRT is also in continuous cooperation with both the

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

, the

Greek Ministry of foreign Affairs The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( el, Υπουργός Εξωτερικών) is the senior minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece. The incumbent Minister for Foreign Affairs is Nikos Dendias of New Democracy New Democracy, ...

, and European Community Humanitarian Office. It is the only Greek organisation that is part of the International Mountain Rescue Federation or the

International Maritime Rescue Federation The International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) is a global organisation that unites and represents the world's operational marine rescue services, whether civilian or military—full-time or voluntary—large or small. All member organisations ...

. It is also part of the International Rescue Dog Organization. The Hellenic Rescue Team works closely with the Civil Protection Secretariat, the

Greek Coast Guard The Hellenic Coast Guard ( el, Λιμενικό Σώμα-Ελληνική Ακτοφυλακή, Limeniko Soma-Elliniki Aktofylaki, Port Corps-Hellenic Coast Guard) is the national coast guard of Greece. Like many other coast guards, it is a para ...

, the

Greek Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 8 November , equipment = , equipment_label ...

, Greek Army Air Force, the Hellenic Navy Helicopters School, the Directorate of Transmission of Air Transport and the TENEF. The organisation has over 3,000 volunteers. It carries out search and rescue operations in emergencies and disasters within Greece or in the sea surrounding Greece.

History

The organisation has provided aid in international emergency situations since 1999. The first international deployment was in the earthquakes of Turkey (1999), followed by Algeria (2003), Morocco (2004), Iran (2004), and Indonesia (2005) - where full equipment was sent for the operation of a pre-hospital care centre for 10,000 people for two months - Pakistan (2005) and lastly the Lebanese crisis where it sent 23.5 tons of food and pharmaceutical products gathered through its network. The Greek Rescue Team also participated in the relief efforts in the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

. The HRT received the

in 2016 for its rescue efforts in 2015 where the organisation saved over 2,500 people in the

Aegean sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

. During that year the organisation undertook 1,035 rescue operations and additionally assisted over 7,000 people to safety In 2017, the organisation received the

Mother Teresa award Mother Teresa of Kolkata has been memorialized throughout the world in recognition of her work with the poor. During her lifetime this commemoration often took the form of awards and honorary degrees bestowed upon her. She has also been memorialized ...

from the "Harmony Foundation" based in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. They received the award for their "heroic actions" during the migrant and refugee crisis.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Humanitarian aid organizations in Europe Sea rescue organizations Organizations based in Thessaloniki Medical and health organizations based in Greece 1978 establishments in Greece Mountain rescue Nansen Refugee Award laureates