The Mountain Club of South Africa – Mountain Rescue in general
The MCSA is a nation wide organisation that has 14 sections throughout the country, 5 of which have very active Search and Rescue Teams. Two of those teams, here in the Western Cape, are part of the WSAR umbrella, namely the Cape Town team and the Hottentots Holland team. Both teams, though separate, work and train closely together and know each other well. The Cape Town team serves mainly the inner city and Cape Peninsula while the Hottentots Holland team is active throughout Somerset West, Stellenbosch and sometimes outlying areas (Paarl, Wellington, Overberg, …).
Mountain Rescue team of the Cape Town section
The team consists of approximately 70 members, all trained in various aspects of mountaineering, first aid and technical rope rescue. Training is carried out throughout the year and members work closely with other organisations operating under the WSAR (Wilderness Search & Rescue) banner, such as Metro Rescue, the South African Air Force, the 4×4 Club and the South African Speleological Association.
We are always looking for new recruits to the MCSA Mountain Rescue team – to strengthen the team, introduce new skills and replace members who have moved away.
Contacts Cape Town team
Mountain Rescue team of the Hottentots Holland section
Our section runs a very active search and rescue field team that trains every second Wednesday night and every second month on a weekend with other rescue teams. In size our group varies between 17 and 25 volunteers. The training focuses on patient location (search theory and praxis), technical rope rigging (physics involved and practical implementation); packaging and extraction of patients (first aid and medical); navigation and radio communication. We have a mentee/mentor system that requires you to learn for about a year and a half before you will be deployed into a real rescue.
Contacts Hottentots Holland team
Web: https://hot.mcsa.org.za/activities/mountain-rescue
Eml: rescue@hot.mcsa.org.za
MCSA Mountain Rescue national contacts
Web: https://mcsa.org.za/activities/mountain-rescue/
FB: Facebook
IN: Instagram