Foyle Search and Rescue getting ready for a morning search of the Foyle
FOYLE Search and Rescue is among nine of voluntary search and rescue groups in the North of Ireland who have been awarded funding of more than £84,000 by the Department of Justice.
The support package includes a contribution of £41,000 from the Department for Communities.
Department of Justice permanent secretary Nick Perr said it provided “direct support to the hundreds of volunteers who tirelessly work to help keep our communities safe”.
He said: “While funding supports the purchase of much needed lifesaving equipment, the volunteers take with them our admiration and thanks.”
Sharing the money with Foyle Search and Rescue are Community Rescue Service, North West Mountain Rescue, Mourne Mountain Rescue, Irish Cave Rescue Organisation, Lagan Search and Rescue, Lough Neagh Rescue, Search and Rescue Dog Association Ireland North, and Skywatch Civil Air Patrol.
Between April 2016 and March 2017, voluntary search-and-rescue groups were dispatched 544 times across the North of Ireland.
The groups were called upon for emergencies in Derry 218 times.
More than half of those incidents related to operations on the River Foyle, one of the coldest and fastest flowing rivers in Europe.
Foyle Search and Rescue was involved in the majority of the operations on the River Foyle.
“During 2016/17 our Emergency Response Team made many rescues from the river as well as persons removed from the river’s edge,” said Foyle Search and Rescue’s Pat Carlin.
“Sadly, there were seven lives lost to the river, and (bodies) recovered by our teams during this period.”
Foyle Search and Rescue operates a suicide prevention and rescue service.
“There are various social issues that contribute to the number of incidents we deal with, but our main focus is the preservation of life and to support the emergency services,” said Mr Carlin.
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