Speleo-Secours Switzerland

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT CAVE RESCUE ORGANISATION

The cave rescue organisation Speleo-Secours Switzerland originated from the Swiss Caving Association (SGH/SSS). This association (which unites most of the cave explorers in this country) took the initiative in the 1970s and founded a rescue organisation at country level to help its own members.

The rescue teams of Speleo-Secours Switzerland still consist of the best cave explorers of the SGH, although the majority of the rescued persons are not SGH members. Therefore, the Speleo-Secours Switzerland is as committed (if not more) to the public as it is to speleologists organised in the association.

Speleo-Secours Switzerland is a rescue organisation working at national level. It has 240 rescuers and carries out search and rescue operations in caves and other hard-to-reach places such as mines or gorges, for which the use of specially trained rescuers familiar with the environment is indispensable.

Speleo-Secours Switzerland collaborates closely with Swiss air-rescue (Rega) and Alpine Rescue Switzerland. Between 1981 and 2016 the cooperation with Rega was governed by an agreement, which was replaced in 2016 by a similar agreement with Alpine Rescue Switzerland.

ABOUT CAVES IN SWITZERLAND

7’900 km2 or 19% of Switzerland’s surface are karst areas. This is where most of the 8,000 caves with a cumulative length of more than 1,200 km are located.

With the Hölloch in the Muotatal and the Sieben Hengste Cave System in the Bernese Alps, two of the ten longest caves in the world are in Switzerland.

Most of the caves have alpine character, often with deep water-bearing shafts and low temperatures.

Many karst areas in Switzerland are systematically explored and still today cave explorers regularly discover new unknown caves.

CONTACT

Alarm number for call-out:

1414 (Rega) – indicate “cave incident”

Web page: speleosecours.ch

E-Mail Speleo-Secours Switzerland: info@speleosecours.ch

Andy Scheurer, President of Speleo-Secours Switzerland

Phone: +41 44 734 03 34
Mail: andy.scheurer@speleosecours.ch