and the communications center at haulbowline maintain a 24-hour watch on all distress frequencies. israel helicopter of magen david adom sar in israel is the responsibility of the idf home front command search and rescue (sar). the unit was established at its current strength in 1984, combining all the specialist units that were involved with sar until that time. the sar unit is a rapid mobilization force and has an airborne transport and deployment capability for its personnel and equipment. the unit is composed of reserve personnel, with a regular cadre based at the bahad 16 unit training facility. with a focus on urban sar, the unit operates specialized equipment, including a locally developed device for locating persons trapped under rubble by detecting seismic and acoustic emissions given off by the victims. the sar unit also uses search and rescue dogs specially trained to locate people buried under debris. israeli sar resources israel defense forces medical corps (israel) home front command bahad 16 oketz unit israel police israaid magen david adom zaka italy italian agustawestland aw139 for sea rescue. italian as365 dauphin rescue helicopter italian sar operations are carried out by the guardia costiera, backed up by naval aviation and the air force, including aeronautica militare comando 15° stormo (15th wing), the italian red cross, and other organizations. jordan jordan's civil defense urban search and rescue team (usar) has achieved the un classification as a heavy usar team. the team's role mainly earthquake rescue. kenya the kenya maritime authority and the kenya civil aviation authority are responsible for aeronautical sar within kenya's waterways and aerospace respectively. macau macau's maritime sar is conducted by two units: the macau marine department and responsible for maritime sar within macau's waterways. the macau search and rescue coordination centre is under the vessel traffic control centre of macao of the maritime administration of macau. malaysia mmea's eurocopter as365 n3 dauphin used for sar and surveillance. for land rescue, malaysia has two primary sar units: the special malaysia disaster assistance and rescue team (smart), which reports to the national security council, and the malaysian fire and rescue department's (frdm) special tactical operation and rescue team of malaysia (storm) unit. they are sometimes aided by the jungle experts, the aboriginal police unit named senoi praaq, royal malaysian police (rmp) vat 69 commando, the malaysian armed forces' special operations force, and the malaysian civil defence force. both smart and storm, as with other frdm's special operations, often participate in international sar missions. for maritime sar, it is the responsibility of malaysia coast guard and frdm, along with support from the rmp's marine operations force and the royal malaysian air force's paskau. malta the afm's search and rescue launches melita i and melita ii have been used for search and rescue operations since 1999. the responsibility for sar at sea in the malta search and rescue region falls under the armed forces of malta (afm). it is carried out by maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and vessels under the co-ordination, command and control of the rescue co-ordination centre. the afm, in close collaboration with the us coast guard, also runs a search and rescue training centre for international students in maritime sar mission co-ordination and planning. to date more than 30 foreign students from 15 countries including albania, cameroon, croatia, equatorial guinea and kenya have attended these courses. malta is also in talks with libya about enhancing sar cooperation between the two countries. netherlands sar responsibility in the netherlands is held by the netherlands coastguard, carried out by vessels and aircraft from various organisations among which mostly the royal netherlands sea rescue institution, the dutch lifeguard association, the ministry of transport and water management and the ministry of defence (netherlands). new zealand new zealand's search and rescue region extends from the south pole to the southern border of the honolulu region, including norfolk, tonga, samoa, and cook islands. smaller searches are controlled by the local police, who call on landsar for land-based operations, such as for lost hikers known as tramping in new zealand, and the royal new zealand coastguard for coastal maritime incidents. larger maritime search and rescue events, as well as reports of overdue aircraft, fall under the control of the rescue coordination centre new zealand (rccnz), based in avalon, which coordinates response from local coastguard, helicopter operators, merchant marine, air force and naval resources. urban search and rescue falls primarily within the domain of the fire and emergency new zealand, particularly the three usar taskforce groups based in palmerston north, christchurch, and auckland. these teams draw together numerous specialists and organisations to achieve an integrated multi-agency response. among those organisations that act in a support capacity for fenz are response teams (nzrts). these are regional rescue groups of professional volunteers that train to a minimum industry standard of usar category 1r (usar responder), which is also standard for fenz firefighters. response teams are registered with the ministry of civil defence and emergency management (mcdem), and assist their local mcdem groups and communities in emergencies to supplement full-time emergency services. their additional capabilities, which vary among different teams, include: high angle rope rescue, storm response, swift water response, medics, welfare, and rural fire support. many response teams were deployed to assist in the rescue and recovery effort of the 2011 christchurch earthquake. other resources: westpac rescue helicopter (new zealand) - charitable organization new zealand land sar search dogs - the official nz search dogs group providing land search & rescue services under nz land sar, wilderness and avalanche rescue dogs. norway the veteran norwegian rescue ship biskop hvoslef the search and rescue helicopters are operated by the royal norwegian air force (rnoaf), who fly 12 westland sea kings. the norwegian sea kings are in the process of being replaced. between 2020 and 2023 the sea king fleet will have been phased out by 16 agustawestland aw101, named sar queen for the purpose. there have been issues with the phasing in of sar queen, due to landing sites across the country not being sized for the increased downwash. philippines the agencies responsible for search and rescue activities in the philippines are: philippine coast guard office of civil defense national disaster risk reduction and management council portugal portuguese search and rescue area three different agencies are responsible for providing search and rescue in portugal. the portuguese navy is responsible for all sea rescues, the portuguese air force for all the rescues originating within the airspace, including aircraft crashes and the autoridade nacional de protecção civil (anpc) for all inland rescues. all of the above coordinate closely with each other providing a comprehensive search and rescue service. the portuguese area of responsibility comprises the lisbon and santa maria flight information regions (fir). poland a polish navy w-3 sokół sar helicopter hoists a crew member in poland most search and rescue operations are undertaken by the airborne units of the polish armed forces. the navy currently has the largest sar fleet of helicopters and also operates a number of small vessels for the purpose of rescuing crewmen of stricken ships. there is also, however a semi-governmental organisation known as the 'morska służba poszukiwania i ratownictwa' (maritime search and rescue service) which provides the vast majority of seaborne services to vessels in distress; the service is currently (as of 2010) in the process of overhauling and replacing a large portion of its fleet of lifeboats. other civilian search and rescue units in poland include: górskie ochotnicze pogotowie ratunkowe, gopr (mountain volunteer search and rescue) tatrzańskie ochotnicze pogotowie ratunkowe, topr (tatra mountains volunteer search and rescue) wodne ochotnicze pogotowie ratunkowe, wopr (water volunteer search and rescue) - operating on inland and coastal waters south africa search and rescue services are offered by various government departments, non governmental organizations, commercial/private organizations and voluntary organizations organisations in south africa. there is no single organisation responsible for urban, wilderness, swift water, aviation or maritime/sea rescue. aviation and maritime incidents are the responsibility of the south african search and rescue organization (sasar). sasar is a voluntary organization that functions under the auspices of the department of transport. its main role is to search for, assist and carry out rescue operations for the survivors of aircraft or vessel accidents. depending on the nature of the accident, the rccs (aeronatautical rescue coordination centre (arcc) or maritime rescue coordination centre (mrcc)) coordinate the search and rescue missions. these operations are carried out by other government departments, non governmental organizations, commercial/private organizations and voluntary organizations. local resources: national sea rescue institute wilderness search and rescue cape town the mountain club of south africa search and rescue search and rescue south africa rescue south africa k9 search and rescue metro search and rescue spain casa cn-235 maritime patrol aircraft of the sociedad de salvamento y seguridad maritima. sociedad de salvamento y seguridad maritima agustawestland aw139 sar helicopter search and rescue duties in spain are the responsibility of the national government, in conjunction with regional and municipal governments. the sociedad de salvamento y seguridad marítima is the main organization, and has overall responsibility for the maritime search and rescue, that also coordinates the sar efforts with other agencies: spanish navy spanish air force servicio de vigilancia aduanera servicio marítimo de la guardia civil sweden swedish rescue vessel drottning silvia (queen silvia) in front of the royal castle in stockholm, sweden the swedish maritime administration is responsible for maritime sar in swedish waters. the swedish sea rescue society is an organization aiming at saving lives and recovering property at sea, much the same as the norwegian norsk selskab til skibbrudnes redning. the society operates 68 search and rescue stations and some 185 ships crewed by 2100 volunteers, of those more than 300 are on call at any time, and can respond within 15 minutes. in 2011, the volunteers turned out to an emergency 3274 times. the swedish sea rescue society is involved 70% of the number sar missions in swedish waters. switzerland rega agusta a109 k2. rega (schweizerische rettungsflugwacht / garde aérienne / guardia aerea) is the air rescue service which provides emergency medical assistance in switzerland, notably in mountains but also in cases of life-threatening emergencies elsewhere. they will also return a citizen to switzerland from a foreign country if they are in need of urgent medical care. rega was established on 27 april 1952 by dr. rudolf bucher, who thought that the swiss rescue organisation needed a specialised air sub-section. taiwan national airborne service corps (nasc; chinese: 內政部空中勤務總隊; pinyin: nèizhèngbù kōngzhōng qínwù zǒngduì) is the agency of the ministry of the interior of the republic of china responsible for executing and providing support for search and rescue, disaster relief, emergency medical service, transportation, monitoring, reconnaissance and patrol in taiwan. coast guard administration (cga; chinese: 行政院海岸巡防署; pinyin: xíngzhèngyuàn hǎi'àn xúnfáng shǔ) is charged with maintaining coastal waters and the pelagic zone patrols, smuggling and stowaway crackdowns, maritime rescues, natural resource conservation, and public services. the cga is considered a civilian law enforcement agency under the administration of the executive yuan, though during emergencies it may be incorporated as part of the republic of china armed forces. turkey disaster and emergency management presidency (afad) teams in search and rescue mission 2011 van earthquakes. search and rescue operators in turkey are primarily: civil governmental and non-governmental organizations disaster and emergency management presidency; also known as afad akut search and rescue association national medical rescue team (umke) gea search and rescue association is a group of search and rescue, ecology and social campaigners, founded in 1994, made up of volunteer members. akdf search and rescue associations federation was established in nineteen different districts. aka search and rescue and emergency aid association (akay) akut middle east search and rescue, mountaineering and outdoor sports association (ordos) nak national emergency search and rescue association (nesar) military gendarmerie search and rescue battalion command (jak) gendarmerie underwater search and rescue teams (sak) diving, safety, security, search and rescue team air force search and rescue coast guard command (turkey) turkish coast guard is also the main search and rescue coordination authority in turkish sar zone ukraine in ukraine search and rescue is conducted by the state search and rescue aviation service of the ministry of emergencies of ukraine ukraviaposhuk. united kingdom royal air force westland sea king hm coastguard sikorsky s-92