site.btaMountain Rescue Service Remains Underfunded, Lacks Dedicated Legislation, Director Says

Bulgaria’s Mountain Rescue Service remains underfunded and lacks dedicated legislation, its Director Emil Neshev told BTA on Friday.

Friday marks International Mountain Rescue Day.

Neshev said this year’s subsidy was slightly below the Service’s needs and would cause various difficulties. The Service also struggled to recruit people with the particular qualities and skills required of mountain rescuers who were prepared to risk their lives, he added.

In addition to their low pay, salaried mountain rescuers are placed in Category III, the lowest employment category for pension purposes. A meeting at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy in September will discuss their possible reclassification, Neshev said.

Mountain Rescue Service vehicles also need special road-traffic status, he added.

Bulgaria has more than 530 mountain rescuers, 47 of whom are salaried. They are organized into 32 teams, with five permanent round-the-clock bases in Sofia, at Aleko Hut, in Bansko, Borovets and Studenets.

The rescuers work with 23 dogs, 10 of which are trained to Class C, the highest operational level, Neshev said.

Mountain incidents are currently increasing, he added. Rescuers took part in 24 operations over the past two weeks because hikers and mountaineers underestimated mountain conditions while overestimating their own abilities.

The decision to establish a special day on which mountain rescuers worldwide could celebrate their shared commitment to saving lives was adopted unanimously at the 2022 Congress of the International Commission for Alpine Rescue in Montreux, Switzerland, according to the Mountain Rescue Service website.

Now in its fourth year, International Mountain Rescue Day is observed on August 28 by ICAR’s more than 140 member organizations across 41 countries.

On August 28 and 29, 1948, mountain rescue pioneers from several countries gathered in the Wilder Kaiser area of Tyrol at the invitation of the Austrian Alpine Club. They exchanged knowledge and experience and laid the foundations of the organization that became ICAR in 1955.

In 1971, the Mountain Rescue Service of the Bulgarian Red Cross became the sixth organization admitted as a full ICAR member.

“Today, we honour the spirit of cooperation and the tireless dedication of all the women and men who often risk their own lives to keep others safe in the mountains,” the Mountain Rescue Service said.