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Mountain Volunteer Search and Rescue () is a partially volunteer-run non-profit mountain rescue organisation in
Mountain Volunteer Search and Rescue () is a partially volunteer-run non-profit mountain rescue organisation in Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, which helps people who have come into danger in the mountains, helps prevent accidents and protects wildlife. It aids both tourists who are visiting the mountains and hiking trails and residents of small, hard-to-reach mountain towns. In 2022, GOPR conducted over 2,550 operations, helping 2,699 people.
History
The first attempts to create a mountain rescue service in the partitioned Poland took place in 1909. In 1952, all mountain rescue units started to operate under the GOPR umbrella, with the team responsible for the Tatra Mountains breaking out into its own organization in 1991. Currently, the service is governed by the Polish Parliament's 2011 ''Act on safety and rescue in mountains and on organized ski areas'' (). According to this Act, mountain rescue services are financed from the national budget, local budgets, national park entry fees, and other sources, and such services cannot therefore require insurance or charge rescue fees. As of December 2022, GOPR had 133 professional rescuers and 826 volunteer rescuers. In order to join the service, each rescuer needs to pass an exam and go through a trial period, during which they already begin to participate in rescue missions. The service has an agreement with Poland'sair ambulance
Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...
team to use its helicopters, though it is also in talks with local authorities and others to procure its own helicopters, which would be adapted specifically for mountain rescue use.
Structure
GOPR is divided into seven divisions, one for every majormountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
in Poland, and is headquartered in Zakopane
Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...
. It oversees a total area of 20 410 km2, comprising all major mountain ranges in Poland, with the exception of the Tatras, which are managed by a separate team. They maintain 7 200 km of hiking trails and 425 ski objects. The corps is divided into the following groups:
* Karkonosze
The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bord ...
Group
* Bieszczady Group
* Beskidy
The Beskids or Beskid Mountains (, , , (), ()) are a series of mountain ranges in the Carpathians, stretching from the Czech Republic in the west along the border of Poland with Slovakia up to Ukraine in the east.
The highest mountain in the Be ...
Group
* Jura Group
* Krynica Group, (Beskid Sądecki
Beskid Sądecki is a mountain range in the eastern section of the Western Beskids, within the Outer Western Carpathians. It is located in the border region between Poland and Slovakia. On the Poland, Polish side, it stretches along an area ...
, Low Beskids
The Low Beskids () or Central Beskids (; ; ) are a mountain range in southeastern Poland and northeastern Slovakia. They constitute a middle (central) section of the Beskids, within the Outer Eastern Carpathians.
Since there are several tradit ...
)
* Podhale
Podhale (; ), sometimes referred to as the Polish Highlands, is Poland's southernmost region. The Podhale is located in the foothills of the Tatra range of the Carpathian Mountains. It is the most famous region of the Goral Lands which are a ...
Group
* Group Wałbrzych
Wałbrzych (; ; or ''Walmbrich''; or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland, seat of Wałbrzych County. Wałbrzych lies approximately southwest of the voivodeship capital Wrocław and about from the Czec ...
- Kłodzko
Kłodzko (; ; ; ) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse (Nysa Kłodzka) river.
Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko County (and of the ru ...
See also
* TOPRNotes and references
External links
* http://www.gopr.pl/ - an official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorskie Ochotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe Mountain rescue agencies Emergency services in Poland Charities based in Poland 1952 establishments in Poland