Neyðarkall björgunarsveitanna

Emergency call - the rescue team's keyring

It's that special time of year again - the rescue workers' annual fundraising campaign here in Iceland is underway!

From October 30th to November 3rd, 2024, the rescue workers' volunteers will be back in the country's shopping centers and supermarkets and will be selling the "neyðarkall", the rescue workers' annual keyring.

The small figure costs 3,500 ISK, the equivalent of a good €23.

The proceeds from the sale go to the various departments of the rescue teams and are used to finance their work. By purchasing the key fobs you support the work of the thousands of volunteers who rely on these donations for their training, further education and the purchase and maintenance of their equipment including tools, vehicles and devices.

Landsbjörg / ICE-SAR

The first search and rescue team in Iceland was founded in 1918 in the Westman Islands, as accidents at sea and off the coast of Iceland were common. Since then, numerous Icelandic rescue teams have been deployed voluntarily , ensuring the safety of the population and visitors.

In its current form, Slysavarnafélagið Landsbjör g, the Icelandic rescue organization for air, land and water rescue , was created in October 1999 from the merger of the sea rescue team founded in 1928 and the land rescue teams. It is a voluntary organization with approximately 18,000 members .

These people are voluntarily on call day and night all year round to prevent accidents in an emergency and to save lives and ultimately property.

The association's patron is the President of Iceland .

Iceland lives with natural hazards of various kinds, so it is essential that every village and town has a team of volunteers . According to the association, there are currently 93 rescue teams , 37 accident prevention departments and 48 youth departments in Iceland, which form a close-knit network throughout the country and provide voluntary help in the event of an emergency.

Financing the work

The member units are financially independent. They consist of volunteers who take on important tasks for the community. They rescue stranded hikers in the mountains, fly accident victims to the hospital, take care of travelers who are stranded in bad weather, pull cars out of the water and are always available when help is needed. The helpers work on a voluntary and unpaid basis and rely on donations .

Landsbjörg's financing comes, among other things, from the sale of fireworks (flugeldasala). Here in Iceland, Landsbjörg has the monopoly on the sale of rockets, firecrackers, batteries and everything else you need for a proper fireworks display - and there are also safety precautions and tips. After all, it is also Landbjörg who respond to accidents involving fireworks. If you don't want to buy fireworks but still want to support the rescue workers, you can also symbolically buy a seedling , which will then actually be planted by volunteers as part of the country's reforestation.

Neyðarkall - emergency call from rescue teams

Another fundraising campaign is the sale of keyrings. Since 2006, the rescue teams have been selling their keyring - their "neyðarkall" (= "emergency call") every year in a special campaign to finance their work.

Each year there is a different keychain, each with a specific outfit and equipment. Over time, the little figure already carried, among other things, mountain rescue equipment, sea rescue equipment, there was also a dog handler for rescue dogs, a specialist for rescue from wreckage, a rescue diver, a medical first aider, someone who rescues missing people with a snowmobile or searches for them with a drone, and there has also been a historical rescuer with equipment “from the past”.

As emergency services say in statements about this year's campaign, the people of Iceland have been reminded in recent years that they live in a harsh country. There were violent earthquakes, especially in Grindavík, the volcanic eruptions on Reykjanes, but also the collapse of a glacier cave and many other operations. Therefore, this year 2024, the small figure on the rescue teams' "emergency call" keychain is a "hamfarasérfræðingur", i.e. an expert in disaster control.

On Thursday while shopping in Skeifan I saw a volunteer selling the keychains at the front of Hagkaup. And after my shopping I took one of the little guys with me. Sure, 3,500 ISK for a keyring is a lot of money, but ultimately it's about financing all the volunteer rescue teams who work voluntarily and tirelessly here on Iceland. And 3,500 ISK really isn't much...