Hardly any budget for helpers

Unbelievable: Volunteer mountain rescuers have to pay up

Tyrol's mountain rescuers are well equipped. What few people know: The emergency services have to finance most of the equipment themselves.

(Bild: Österreichischer Bergrettungsdienst Land Tirol)

It's hard to believe: Tyrol's mountain rescuers are not only sacrificing their free time on a voluntary basis to cope with the record number of missions, they also have to pay for most of their equipment out of their own pockets!

As reported, the number of missions carried out by the Tyrolean Mountain Rescue Service has reached unprecedented heights this summer. At the same time, this means that the volunteers have had to take countless days off work to help people in distress in the mountains. They then miss these days when it comes to recovering themselves and spending time with their families.

Financing out of their own pocket
But that's not all: when the mountain rescuers are on duty - in summer or winter - they wear functional clothing that they have to finance mainly out of their own pockets.

Tyrol's mountain rescuers are well equipped. What few people know: The rescuers have to finance most of their equipment themselves.

(Bild: Österreichischer Bergrettungsdienst Land Tirol)

The same applies to equipment for their own safety, such as helmets and climbing harnesses. Volunteers also have to dig deep into their private pockets for this. "We are not in a position to finance the equipment from our budget," regrets Ekkehard Wimmer, the new regional director of Mountain Rescue Tyrol.

We are not in a position to finance the equipment from our budget.

Ekkehard Wimmer, Landesleiter Bergrettung Tirol

Bild: Johanna Birbaumer

So we have to improvise, so to speak, so that the emergency services are at least financially "remunerated" for part of the costs of their "work clothing" or "work equipment".

However, this is not "remuneration" in the true sense of the word. The mountain rescue service has agreements with some manufacturers from whom the emergency services can purchase at a lower price. This means that the helpers do not pay the full price for their "work clothes".

When the mountain rescuers rescue people from alpine emergencies, they do so with equipment that they have largely paid for themselves.

(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

There is a special regulation for selected items of equipment that are essential for operations. "We can buy some products cheaply and pass on the corresponding discounts to the mountain rescuers," explains Wimmer. There is also a state subsidy of 20 percent.

Equipment for private use
Of course: functional clothing, helmet, harness, skis, touring skins, avalanche transceiver, probe, shovel, crampons - despite the subsidy and discounts, this adds up to a tidy sum for every mountain rescuer. After all, they can also use the equipment privately.

Public funding?
"Our mountain rescuers sacrifice a lot of their free time, vacations and time with their families on a voluntary basis. To compensate for this, at least the equipment should be free of charge," says Regional Director Ekkehard Wimmer. Appropriate public funding could help here.