The Hellenic Rescue Team (ESA) is a voluntary search and rescue organization whose members have volunteered in business since 1978 and since 1994 has been operating in the form of an association.
It is based in Thessaloniki and has 31 branches all over Greece. ESA is certified by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection of the Ministry of Citizen Protection with no. Registry 6 and has been a member of the United Nations INSARAG since 23 June 2005, making it the only international rescue organization in Greece. It is also in continuous cooperation with both the OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and, in addition, it is the only Greek organization that is a member of the World Federation of Mountain Rescue (ICAR), the International Rescue Dog Federation (IRO) and the International Marine Rescue Federation (IMRF).
For its operational action at sea during the great refugee crisis in Greece, the Hellenic Rescue Team was honored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with the NANSEN Refugee Prize, the UNHCR's highest distinction. Only in 2014 and 2015 during rescue operations for refugees in Lesvos, Samos and Kos ESA members carried out more than 1,100 rescue operations, saving 2,500 people and helping to securely reach the seashore of over 7,000 people.
In addition, for its rescue work, ESA was awarded in December 2017 with the Mother Teresa Social Justice Award by the Harmony Foundation of India, which honors every year organizations and personalities from around the world who offer humanitarian work and contribute in a social justice administration
With a human potential of over 2,500 volunteers across Greece, the Hellenic Rescue Team participates in search and rescue operations in emergencies and mass disasters, wherever they are both in Greece and abroad. It is staffed by volunteers with professional consciousness and excellent training. Our mission is to provide assistance to our fellow human beings who are at risk for their lives under any circumstances, in all natural or non-physical fields, inside and outside Greece.
The Hellenic Rescue Team has always been beside man in the biggest earthquakes that occurred in our country and abroad. She participated in the great earthquake of Aegion in 1995, where her rescuers - members managed to save the life of little Andrew after three days of work in the ruins, in the devastating earthquake of Athens in 1999, and in the earthquake of Turkey that same year. In the latter case, the Greek Rescue Team arrived before the state machine of Turkey officially mobilized. The head of our efforts, however, is our participation in the great earthquake of Haiti in 2010. There, our members were proud of every Greek, as they managed to find and save the 23-year-old Exanthus, when all the rescue crews had stopped looking for survivors. Our
goal is to be everywhere and always. We are always present at the scene. We are the first to get there and the last ones to abandon. We recognize that what we offer is important and valuable and that our actions have a significant impact on our surroundings. Therefore, we do it responsibly, with complete honesty and absolute respect for the values we serve. We practice our words and are constantly trained, keeping our knowledge high. With a weapon of specialization, we strive to offer maximum help when we are called.
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