ICESAR - Rescue Leaders

ICESAR – Iceland’s volunteer-led search and rescue charity – is still buzzing from 

a hectic 2010 and is hard at work again in 2011. The charity is deeply involved in the 

safety and clean-up operation following the Grimsvotn volcanic eruption this May and 

is also busy with its usual work.

ICESAR made world headlines at the beginning of 2010 as the first international 

team to arrive in Haiti following the devastating earthquake.

Then, at home in Iceland, their members were kept busy by the Fimmvorduhals 

volcano. The so-called ‘tourist volcano’ was small and breathtaking to behold; 

which meant that many people decided to visit and some inevitably put themselves 

into serious danger.

Just as Fimmvorduhals ended and ICESAR volunteers took a well-earned break,

Eyjafjallajokull decided to erupt, causing international travel chaos. Once again

there teams took the lead in keeping people safe and also in cleaning up the ash

afterwards.

This year the world watched as Grimsvotn erupted, emitting tonnes of ash which

covered much of southeast Iceland and threatened local towns and farms. Having

succeeded in keeping people safe,ICESAR is once again on the scene making sure

the ash is removed and life returns to normal quickly.

With all this action, it is easy to overlook the fact that ICESAR attends to 1,200-1,500

other emergency callouts, on sea and on land, every year.

Their team is considered a world leader in many areas of S&R. The charity maintains

specialist teams and equipment in all parts of Iceland. It has lifeboats, snowmobiles,

search dogs and much more. But most of all, it has thousands of volunteers in around

100 individual teams who are ready to drop everything and put themselves in danger

to help others. That is why ICESAR is such an incredibly worthy cause to support.