Hellenic Rescue Team participated in the International Maritime Rescue Federation crew exchange program

With two volunteers, one from HRT Samos and one from HRT Headquarters, in Thessaloniki, HRT participated in this year’s International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) Crew Exchange program, which was held from the 22nd to the 29th of September.

The two HRT volunteers were Dimitris Kalatzis, Head of HRT Samos, who participated in the exchange program hosted by the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (RS) in Horten - near Oslo - and Popi Doxa, from Thessaloniki, who participated in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) program, in Poole, Great Britain.

Each crew exchange program involves eight volunteers and crew members from different organizations that are also members of the International Maritime Rescue Federation. The aim of this exchange program, which is facilitated on an annual basis, is the exchange of experiences and practices that the participants implement in their countries and the improvement of their educational and operational level, in order to reach useful results and conclusions.

The crew exchange program includes simulation exercises in search and rescue, training modules in First Aid, Navigation, Firefighting, Ship Management and Maritime Terminology. Both the Norwegian and British organizations are among the biggest in Europe, with hundreds of year’s history in marine rescue and excellent training centers and facilities. Especially in Norway, the program was hosted at the new RS training center, Noatun Langgrunn.

Hellenic Rescue Team is the only Greek rescue organization that is a full member of the International Maritime Rescue Federation and this was the third time that its volunteers participated in the crew exchange program.

*The first photo is from the program hosted in the RNLI and the second is from the training in RS, Norway