St John Rescue Corps was raised in 1986 by the first Corps Commander, The Marquis Buttigieg De Piro, to meet the need in Malta of a support civil defence unit consisting of adult volunteers fully trained in rescue and first aid. St John Rescue Corps is part of St John Association Malta, and operates under the auspices of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.
The mission statement of St John Rescue Corps is to provide a uniformed voluntary Corps of organized and fully trained adults, able to carry out rescue operations and first aid efficiently. They are to be prepared to go into action as an individual unit, in support of the constituted authorities of the Maltese Islands, when officially called upon by them.
Headquarters Unit & Rescue Teams
The Corps has a central Headquarters Unit, which is composed of Officers who advise and assist the Corps Commander.
Apart from a central Headquarters Unit, the Corps is composed of active and reserve volunteers who form part of a number of rescue teams.
Membership
There is no regular paid support for the Rescue Corps. It is entirely composed of highly dedicated, unpaid, part-time volunteers. The organisation is made up of regular volunteers and a few reservists. Officers, Non-commissioned Officers and volunteers all mess together and wear the same uniform apart from rank and insignia, in the tradition of a corps of gentlemen volunteers.
Rescue Vehicles & Equipment
The Rescue Corps is not funded or supported by any entity or organisation. Whilst it has managed to secure a number of donations over the years, it does not receive regular funds from any particular source.
The Corps is largely supported through the donations of its own volunteers, who apart from giving up a large number of hours in their own personal free time, contribute significantly towards the purchase of their own equipment, purchase their own rescue vehicles and fund the maintenance and running costs of the vehicles.
In addition, large amounts of personal and private funds are disbursed on overhead costs in order to sustain training and operations of the individual divisions.
Training
The Human Resources Management branch coordinates training for new recruits and active volunteers.
Each recruit must be over eighteen years of age, physically fit for the rigours of rescue work and must undergo a program of basic training which includes basic first aid, light rescue and foot drill, which is also part of the initial training. Cadet volunteers may join at the age of 16.
After this, a fully trained and certified Rescue Volunteer Class I is required to undertake a minimum of training every month. Many of the volunteers take further advanced courses during weekends in the more specialised and demanding fields of heavy rescue, cliff (high-angle) rescue, fire fighting, first aid and rescue diving.
The Corps also offers its volunteers other training options such as watermanship, climbing, abseiling and physical training, the aim being to inspire more confidence and to maintain physical fitness.
Most of the officers of the Corps as well as some of the senior leaders, qualified in Special Rescue Training at the Katastrophenschutzshule des Bundes – the Federal German Civil Defence Staff Training School in Ahrweiler, Germany.
The Rescue Corps has taken part in numerous exercises together with the Department of Civil Protection in Malta, the Malta Police Force and the Armed Forces of Malta.
More information about training.
Rescue Operations
St John Rescue Corps was tried and came out with flying colours in its first major national call to duty, when the Libyan tanker Um El-Faroud exploded in the Malta Drydocks, tragically claiming the lives of nine workers. Toward a later stage, members of the Rescue Corps were requested to relieve the exhausted Special Assignment Group rescue police by the superintendent in command, Mr Charles Cassar, who went down with them in a tangle of acetylene cylinders and loose live electrical cables to remove the last remains.
Members of the Corps involved in the rescue operation were highly commended for their bravery.
The Corps is called upon from time to time to assist in rescue and recovery operations.