The Sibiu County Public Service has as main attributions:
The Sibiu County Public Public Service consists of a number of 17 employed mountain rescuers, 6 volunteer mountain rescuers (two doctors), 6 aspirants, a director, a chief accountant and a specialized inspector. At the moment we have a colleague on medical leave until the summer, a vacancy, left vacant after the retirement of a colleague and we hope to fill it in the near future because we are in full ski season and in the spring we need them to continue the works on the tourist routes.
The training of mountain rescuers is a permanent, individual activity, which is complemented by the activities organized by the service or organized by the National Association of Mountain Rescuers in Romania
Due to the pandemic, the training of mountain rescuers was done only in small groups in compliance with anti-emptiness measures.
Salvamont Romania annually organizes two stages of winter / summer preparation and evaluation, for the future mountain rescuers.
Salvamont Sibiu was represented in the national school in 2020 by two instructors, Puiu Constantin, Muntean Daniel and a student. Unfortunately, two students stayed at home being in contact with a person confirmed positive with coronavirus, and will participate next year.
Salvamont Romania periodically organizes the re-certification of mountain rescuers. The re-certification exam is held every three years and consists of a medical test, a practical test and a written test to assess knowledge. This year, in order to avoid the risk of transmitting the virus, it was decided to take the re-certification exams only in the spring of 2021.
In November, the National Conference of Mountain Rescuers from Romania took place in Borșa, where Salvamont Sibiu was represented by the two team leaders.
Due to the pandemic with the new Coronavirus, the year 2020 was a difficult one for everyone, including mountain rescue and tourism. After establishing the state of emergency and limiting the tourist access in the mountain area, we focused our activity on restoring the tourist routes and until the restrictions were relaxed we managed to restore 5 routes in the Făgăraș Mountains, 9 routes in the Cindrel Mountains and 2 routes in the Lotrului Mountains. we continue this activity in the spring, with the melting of the snow.
In 2020, Salvamont Sibiu was asked to intervene in a number of 214 interventions in the mountainous area of Sibiu County. Two thirds of them took place on the ski areas in Păltiniș resort and a trembling in the Făgăraș massif
In recent years, the number of accidents on ski slopes has stagnated but the number of accidents in the mountain area has increased, more precisely, it has doubled in the last five years. If in 2014 we registered about 150 interventions, in 2019 there were just over 300. Due to the pandemic, the year 2020 was calmer. There was a lack of foreign tourists in the high area of the Făgăraș massif, but unfortunately the average of tourists who lose their lives in the mountainous area of the county was preserved. More exactly. every year, two or three tourists lose their lives.
In recent years, response times to interventions have decreased considerably due to collaboration with colleagues from Salvamont Arges (in Făgăraș) and collaboration with SMURD and IGAv helicopters but also due to the continuous physical training of team members by participating in more and more sports competitions.
Salvamont Sibiu ensures permanence at the rescue points in Păltiniș and Bâlea Lac all year round and during the summer at Cabana Negoiu and Refugiul Calțun.
During the summer, it patrols the tourist routes and offers information and advice to the tourists on the route. In the cold season, the number of off-piste skiers has increased significantly, especially in the Bâlea Lac area where special equipment is needed for avalanche rescue and specific knowledge.
In the summer, the necessary equipment for its own dispatching was installed in the rescue base from Bâlea Lac. The phone is answered 24 hours a day and an emergency command center can be set up.
The year 2020 was atypical for the Salvamont Sibiu service, the lack of tourists in the spring was an opportunity to focus on tourist routes, then after lifting the restrictions there was an explosion of tourists throughout the mountainous area of the county even in less frequented areas until now
The pandemic was a challenge for us to ensure permanence at mountain rescue points and shelters in the conditions in which a colleague retired, two colleagues were on medical leave for a long time and we systematically had a colleague, two in isolation.
However, the degree of response to requests was 100%, the collaboration with the other institutions in the system has improved considerably, and the command center at the Bâlea Lac Rescue Base is working flawlessly.