Facts about the world’s life-saving organizations

Wherever you are in the world, there will always be at least one group of people ready to risk themselves to come and save you. The organization they belong to will depend on where you are, but ultimately a small group of heroes will come to your aid and put themselves in danger to save your life. Here are a few interesting facts about the worlds life-saving organizations that bring people back home.

 

Facts about the world's life-saving organizations

 

The RNLI

  • The Royal nation lifeboat institution was established on 4 May 1824
  • The annual budget is 147.7 million GBP (just over £400,000 per day)
  • There are currently 330 lifeboats and several hovercraft spread across 238 stations
  • Over 600 rescuers have lost their lives since 1824 trying to save others
  • 93% of their annual budget comes from donations, with only 2% coming from the government
  • The training to become a lifeguard takes 6 months, but 95% of the organization is made up of unpaid volunteers.

 

To donate to the RNLI or for more information, you can check out their site here: RNLI

 

Lifeguards – Beach and pool

  • The International Lifesaving Federation reports claim that certified lifeguards save over 1 million lives each year in the US alone.

 

  • Every year in the US, 800 children die from drowning, most of which in areas there are no lifeguards.

 

  • The average salary for a lifeguard is £10 an hour in the UK, and $15 in California.

 

  • In the UK it only takes 36 hours of core training to become a lifeguard, if you can pass all the tests that is.

 

Mountain rescue

 

  • There are 49 mountain rescue teams spread across England and Wales, with the vast majority of them being made up of volunteers.

 

  • Each team works as an independent charity organization, and isn’t funded by the government, instead relying on donations and volunteers to keep them going.

 

  • Each independent rescue team is coordinated through a central communication network that is alerted by someone calling 999 and asking for mountain rescue. A call is then directed to the appropriate team.

 

(Sherpas train hard to be able to climb the mountain multiple times, with the record being held by a Sherpa named Kami Rita, who has climbed it each year since 1994)

 

Sherpas

  • The Sherpa people are a Nepalese ethnic group that number less than 200,000, but they act as the primary guides for people wanting to climb Mount Everest.

 

  • Sherpas only make about 4,000 US dollars each time they climb the mountain, but western climbing guides make closer to 50,000.

 

  • On average, around 5 Sherpas will be killed each year while trying to the mountain.

 

  • There is a tradition within the Sherpa communities to name their male children after the day of the week they were born on, leading to tens of thousands of people in this small community having the same names.