BUSHWALKERS WILDERNESS RESCUE SQUAD ^INC.

A volunteer group of experienced outdoors people.

How the BWRS Operates

BWRS is run by a committee that organises all field operations and maintains its equipment. We have bi-monthly meetings, all members are encouraged to attend and "have their say" in the running of the squad.  Callouts are managed by group leaders who contact the members of their group depending on the location of the callout and the numbers required.  At present we have 6 groups, Sydney South, Sydney North, Sydney West/Blue Mountains, Wollongong/South Coast, Newcastle/North Coast, ACT/Western.

Callouts are initiated by either: calls on the Bushwalkers Emergency Pager System [click here] for details; or from Police Rescue and other emergency services.  Police Rescue or other emergency services callouts can be for things other than overdue bushwalkers, eg missing children or elderly people, aircraft, vehicles, etc, or search for "evidence" at a "crime scene".

Unless circumstances dictate otherwise, the policy is to allow delayed bushwalking parties an extra 24 hours after their anticipated return time before calling out searchers. Most overdue persons are merely delayed by car problems, hesitant navigation or inclement weather and arrive home safely within this extra time.

All operations are performed on a voluntary basis and are entirely free of charge. Whilst BWRS's success is mainly due to the quality of the bushwalkers involved, it does have some essential equipment to maintain (uniforms, base and field radios, ropes etc) and does need personnel with these aditional skills.

We look upon a good year as being a 'bad' one - when we are not called into the field. In any one year there are from five to fifteen alerts. Alerts have occurred in all bush areas around Sydney, including The Blue Mountains, The Budawangs and Barrington Tops. For a list of our recent alerts and activations, click here

Wilderness Rescue Proficiency

Our strength comes from the bushwalking clubs who, throughout their activities, train their members in bush sense and skills as well as building up their fitness.

Three activities a year are conducted to train and refresh bushwalkers in wilderness rescue operations. These include search techniques, first aid, stretcher hauling, radio usage, navigation and bush safety. Also, all searchers must hold a current St John First Aid Certificate or equivalent and be self sufficient in the bush for up to two days and one night (with reserves for a further 24 hrs) on any operation.

Within the BWRS unit there is a small core of dedicated rock climbers/ canyoners, The Rock Rescue Squad, who perform those tricky jobs such as cliff rescue which are beyond the skills of the average bushwalker. The members of this squad hold the ALVRI Vertical Rescue Operator Vm, V1, V2, V3 vertical rescue qualification, and regularly train with other VRA organisations who are also accredited for vertical rescue.

Who can join BWRS, what are the members like?

The bulk of our members are very fit and active, they come from the Bushwalking Clubs or the Outdoor Recreation Industry.  However we do need support staff who have some background in bushwalking together with other skills such as: - advanced Wilderness first aid, radio communications,  navigational/mapping computer programs such as Oziexplorer.  We have minimum age for members at 18 years, the bulk of the membership is 20s to 40s with a number of experience old-timers still active.  Everyone is encouraged to participate and achieve to the maximum of their ability.

So if you are an experienced off track multi day trip walker or you believe that you have other skills that will benefit the squad please contact us. [click here] for information on how to join us.

View a video that show BWRS activities  [click here]

You will need an internet browser that automatically displays video files and broadband as this is a rather large file.