Bush Search and Rescue Victoria (BSAR) is a volunteer search and rescue group active in the state of Victoria (Australia) and is affiliated with Bushwalking Victoria. Bush Search and Rescue participates in land-based search and rescue activities for persons lost in the bush, in conjunction with and under direction from the Victoria Police Search and Rescue Squad.
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search is conducted over. These include mountain rescue; ground search and rescue, including the use of search and rescue dogs; urban search and rescue in cities; combat search and rescue on the battlefield and air-sea rescue over water.
Victoria is a state in south-eastern Australia. Victoria is Australia's smallest mainland state and its second-most populous state overall, thus making it the most densely populated state overall. Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south, New South Wales to the north, the Tasman Sea to the east, and South Australia to the west.
The Search and Rescue Squad is the Search and Rescue group of the Victoria Police that provides specialist expertise, advice and practical assistance in land search and rescue. This expertise covers most terrains including snow and vertical cliff search and rescue.
Members are selected by bushwalking, mountaineering and outdoors clubs affiliated to Bushwalking Victoria. From 2007, members could also be selected from individual members of Bushwalking Victoria.
Bush Search and Rescue has provided volunteer search and rescue services to the people of Victoria on over 100 occasions, usually in bush or alpine areas. BSAR volunteers are often asked to participate in searches at short notice, in adverse weather conditions and in rough and extreme terrain. BSAR has the ability to send out small self-sufficient search groups which can navigate accurately without landmarks and stay out overnight. [1]
Bush Search and Rescue was formed in 1949 after several volunteer bushwalkers were involved in an extended search at Wilsons Promontory.
The Wilsons Promontory is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria.
Until the 90s, the organisation was known as the "Federation of Victorian Walking Clubs Search and Rescue Section", often abbreviated to "The Federation". In the 90s, the organisation name transitioned to "Bushwalkers Search and Rescue".
In 2008, the organisation name Bush Search and Rescue Victoria was formally adopted. [2]
Bush Search and Rescue is registered as an Emergency Service in the Emergency Management Manual Victoria. [3]
Some notable searches that Bush Search and Rescue has participated in include:
Marysville is a small town, 34 kilometres north-east of Healesville and 41 kilometres south of Alexandra, in the Shire of Murrindindi in Victoria, Australia. The town, which previously had a population of over 500 people, was devastated by the Murrindindi Mill bushfire on 7 February 2009. On 19 February 2009 the official death toll was 45. Around 90% of the town's buildings were destroyed. Prior to the Black Saturday fire the population in 2006 was 519. At the 2011 Census, the population had reduced to 226, by the 2016 Census it had risen to 394.
Mount Donna Buang is a mountain in the southern reaches of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, located in the Australian state of Victoria. Approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Melbourne with an elevation of 1,250 metres (4,101 ft), Mount Donna Buang is the closest snowfield to Melbourne.
Lake Mountain is a 1,433-metre-high (4,701 ft) mountain and cross-country ski resort that is located in Victoria, Australia; approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) from Melbourne. It is the most popular ski resort in Australia in visitor numbers due to its proximity to the populous city of Melbourne, mainly from casual visitors. Lake Mountain Alpine Resort is an Unincorporated area of Victoria surrounded by the Shire of Murrindindi.
The Wilsons Promontory National Park, commonly known as Wilsons Prom or The Prom, is a national park in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, located approximately 157 kilometres (98 mi) southeast of Melbourne.
The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The 646,000-hectare (1,600,000-acre) national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the higher areas of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, including Victoria's highest point, Mount Bogong at 1,986 metres (6,516 ft) and the associated subalpine woodland and grassland of the Bogong High Plains. The park's north-eastern boundary is along the border with New South Wales, where it abuts the Kosciuszko National Park. On 7 November 2008 the Alpine National Park was added to the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven areas constituting the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves.
Skiing in Victoria, Australia takes place in the Australian Alps located in the State of Victoria during the southern hemisphere winter. Victoria is the State with the greatest number of ski resorts in Australia. The highest peak in Victoria is Mount Bogong at 1986m. The first ski tow was constructed near Mount Buffalo in 1938. Victoria has a number of well developed ski resorts including Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Mount Buller. Cross country skiing is popular in such national parks as Mount Buffalo National Park and Alpine National Park.
Victoria is the smallest mainland state in Australia. As of 2008 it contained 2,850 separate protected areas with a total land area of 39,273 km2 (15,163 sq mi). Of these, 45 were national parks, totalling 28,023 km2 (10,820 sq mi).
The Volunteer Rescue Association Inc (VRA) is an Australian organisation of volunteer members, they provide rescue to the communities across New South Wales. The first rescue squads, with the assistance of NSW Police formed the Volunteer Rescue Association, groups with common charters can become an affiliate of the Association.
The Overland Track is one of Australia's most famous bushwalking (hiking) tracks, situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania. More than nine thousand walkers each year complete the track. Officially, the track runs for 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair. However, many choose to add the hike along Lake St Clair as a natural extension, bringing the length to 82 kilometres (51 mi). The track winds through terrain ranging from sheer mountains, temperate rainforest, wild rivers and alpine plains all in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Mount Barney is a mountain within the Scenic Rim Region in south-east Queensland, Australia. It lies approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) south-west of Brisbane, not far from the Queensland - New South Wales border, and forms part of the McPherson Range. It is a popular destination for bushwalkers and campers. Mount Barney is the sixth or seventh highest mountain in Queensland and is often regarded as one of the most impressive parts of the Scenic Rim. The mountain consists of two main peaks,, and smaller subsidiary peaks. East Peak is probably the most popular destination for bushwalkers.
The Blue Gum Forest is a protected nature reserve located in the Grose Valley of the Blue Mountains, in Blue Mountains National Park, in New South Wales west of Sydney, southeastern Australia. It is one of the best-known bushwalking sites in Australia. As part of the Greater Blue Mountains, the forest is within the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The forest survived through the efforts of early Australian conservationists.
The Narrow Neck Plateau, an eroded remnant of a sandstone layer situated at an elevation of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level that is part of the Blue Mountains Range which is a spur line off the Great Dividing Range, is situated immediately south-west of Katoomba in New South Wales, Australia, located within the Blue Mountains National Park. The neck separates the Jamison Valley from the Megalong Valley.
Mount Feathertop is the second-highest mountain in the Australian state of Victoria and is a member of the Australian Alps located entirely within the Alpine National Park. It rises to 1,922 metres (6,306 ft) and is usually covered in snow from June to September. Unlike many other Victorian mountains, Mount Feathertop has steep summit slopes instead of a rounded summit dome.
Frank Austin "Paddy" Pallin was an Australian pioneer bushwalking and camping equipment retailer. He is best known for the Paddy Pallin chain of outdoors equipment stores he founded.
Timothy James Holding is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2013. He served as minister for water; minister for finance, WorkCover and the Transport Accident Commission; and minister for tourism and major events in the Brumby Ministry.
Mount Dom Dom is a mountain in Victoria, Australia 65 km from Melbourne.
Mount Solitary, a mountain that is part of the Blue Mountains Range, a spur off the Great Dividing Range, is situated within the Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Mount Solitary is located approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Sydney, and a few kilometres south of Katoomba, the main town in the Blue Mountains.
NSW SES Bush Search and Rescue (previously known as Bush Search and Rescue NSW, Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad and Bushwalkers Search and Rescue is a remote and rugged area land search and rescue service in New South Wales, Australia established on 27 November 1936. BSAR NSW is a wholly volunteer operated, self funded incorporated association and a specialist squad of the Volunteer Rescue Association.
William Francis "Bill" Waters was Scouts Victoria's Headquarters Commissioner for Rover Scouts between 1930 and 1965.
Victoria is the southernmost mainland state of Australia. With an area of 227,594 km², it is Australia's sixth largest state or territory. The State is comparable in size to the US state of Utah or the island of Great Britain. It is bound to the northwest by South Australia, directly north by New South Wales, and also shares a maritime border with Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Most of Victoria's northern border lies along the Murray River. The eastern half of the state is dominated by the Great Dividing Range and the surrounding uplands, which also to a lesser extent extend far into the west of the state and ease off after The Grampians. By comparison the north and northwest of the state is extremely flat with little prominence. Approximately three quarters of Victoria's population lives on and around the coast of the Port Phillip and Western Port bays, chiefly in Melbourne, in Victoria's South Central region.