Served by volunteers
Swedish Sea Rescue Society is responsible for 80 percent of all sea rescues in Sweden and receives no government funding. The Society is financed by membership fees, donations and voluntary work. Despite this, or possibly as a result of this, the Society has doubled the number of sea rescue stations in recent years, tripled the number of rescue volunteers available and built 230 modern rescue vessels. This expansion has enabled Swedish Sea Rescue Society to meet its goal of departing within 15 minutes or less from the time an alarm is received. Crews live close to stations and conduct training several times a month.
Thanks to 2.200 volunteer crew members, rescue services are always available 24 hours a day anywhere along the Swedish coast and on the major lakes. The volunteers work as carpenters, doctors, fishermen, salesmen, plumbers, teachers and many other occupations. The sea rescue volunteers are willing to go out in any weather, at any time even during normal work hours or in the middle of the night.
The large degree of voluntary work enables the Swedish Sea Rescue Society to manage with a small administration, as much of the costs for normal activities are covered by membership fees. The Swedish Sea Rescue Society has more than 115 000 members.
