Off Road Rescue Unit - Emergency Call-out Reports

Off-Road Rescue Unit - Emergency Incidents Report - 2008
No.	Incident / Location	Date	What Happened
66/2008	Missing woman Garsfontein Gauteng	30 Dec	At 10h00 the police called the Unit to search for a woman who had gone missing in her car in the Garsfontein area near Pretoria the day before. She had left her husband at home to drive a short distance to a nearby pharmacy to buy insulin medication and had not been seen again. A five-car team was deployed and a large area was searched with the assistance of the Police Air Wing, using both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Following various leads from both the air searchers and the public, the team operated throughout the area for the day without finding the missing woman. Despite intensive media coverage neither she nor her red Alfa 147 car had been found at the time of writing.
65/2008	Hijack victim Benoni Gauteng	27-28 Dec	At 15h15 ORRU members were requested by the police to search for a hijack victim in Benoni on the East Rand. A four-car team responded. The next day the search continued with another four-car team.
64/2008	Missing man Meyerton Gauteng	26 Dec	On Boxing Day, a diabetic adult male had gone missing in the Meyerton area near Vereeniging and the police called ORRU for assistance. A team of four ORRU members joined in the search.
63/2008	2-y-o found on Christmas Eve Roodeplaat Gauteng	24 Dec	A two-year-old girl had gone missing on a farm on Christmas Eve. A large search team was assembled to look for her as her worried parents contemplated a Christmas Day from hell. Read more about this call-out here.
62/2008	Search for bodies Swartruggens Northwest	21 Dec	On Saturday evening 20 December, ORRU received a call from the South African Police Service requesting five vehicles to assist them in an extremely sensitive search in Swartruggens in the North-West Province. Read more about this call-out here.
61/2008	Abducted man Roodepoort Gauteng	14 Dec	The SAPS called out the Unit to assist them to search the mine dumps near Roodepoort for an abducted male. A team was assembled but before it could be despatched, the missing man's body was found.
60/2008	Bush fires Bela-Bela Limpopo	03-05 Nov	The National Disaster Management Centre called out the Unit to provide radio communications to 66 firefighters despatched to the Limpopo Province to fight bush fires raging over a wide area. Read more about this three-day call-out here.
59/2008	Missing child Soweto Gauteng	25 Oct	An 8-year-old child had gone missing and the police requested the assistance of ORRU. The child was found unharmed within the hour before members had deployed.
58/2008	Missing man Kenilworth Johannesburg	13 Oct	The police requested the assistance of ORRU in searching for a missing 59-year-old man. Members responded and conducted a search but nothing was found and the team was stood down by the SAPS.
57/2008	EMS Exercise Emmarentia Johannesburg	12 Oct	The Off-Road Rescue Unit played a pivotal role in a Johannesburg EMS exercise which simulated an aircraft crash in the Emmarentia Dam area. ORRU's mobile command post was the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) for the exercise and our radio net was used to manage the search procedure.
56/2008	Missing woman Randburg	12 Oct	A woman had been reported missing. Police had found her car but there was no sign of her. Members were called out and assembled in Randburg but before deployment the SAPS reported that the woman had been found unharmed.
55/2008	Injured motorcyclist Roodepoort Gauteng	12 Oct	A large number of off-road motorbike riders had been riding in an area south of Fleurhof. One of them was thrown from his bike and suffered compound injuries to his arm and wrist. Netcare responded to the call, but were unable to get their ambulance close to the scene. ORRU responded and drove in to the injured patient. He was stabilised and placed on a spine board and then loaded into the back of an ORRU vehicle and driven out of the area and back to the ambulance where he was transferred and continued his evacuation to hospital.
54/2008	Missing child	07 Oct	The Unit was placed on standby to look for a missing nine-year-old child, but members were not deployed.
53/2008	Suicidal student Potchefstroom Northwest Province	07 Oct	At 18h10 on Monday evening, T68 Simon received a call from SA Police Service Senior Inspector Grobbelaar requesting a team to assist in a search for a student who had left a suicide note and walked into a forest in Potchefstroom, Northwest Province. Read more about this call-out here.
52/2008	Missing aircraft Barberton Mpumalanga	05 Oct	An aircraft with nine passengers on board had taken off from the Kruger Park in Mpumalanga, bound for Bloemfontein, but had failed to reach its destination and all contact with the plane had been lost. The Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre requested ORRU to go onto standby to leave for the Barberton / Badplaas area for a search and rescue mission. Read more about this call-out here.
51/2008	EMS strike Johannesburg Gauteng	03 Oct	Staff from the Johannesburg Emergency Medical Services had gone on strike over a wage dispute. Their action had disabled the emergency call centre and the radio net. ORRU was tasked by the Gauteng Disaster Management Centre to provide radio communications between the call centre and the fire stations and fire trucks, and members were dispatched all over the city to effect this. Read more about this call-out here.
50/2008	Missing person Lenasia Johannesburg	29 Sep	At 21h30, the police requested the assistance of ORRU to search for a subject in a storm water drain near Lenasia. A call-out was issued and six cars responded. Nothing was found and the team was stood down at midnight.
49/2008	Missing child Vanderbijl Park Northwest Province	23 Sep	A white female child had been seen in the company of an adult male walking off into veld in Vanderbijl Park and had been reported missing. ORRU was requested to assist in the search. Six cars were available and the team was called out. Nothing was found and the team was stood down by police at 03h00.
48/2008	Despondent man West Rand Gauteng	15 Sep	At 01h49 on Monday 15 September 2008, T09 Ivor received a telephone call from Mountain Search & Rescue, requesting assistance in the search for a potentially suicidal person at the Witwatersrand Botanical Gardens on the West Rand. Read more about this call-out here.
47/2008	Missing child Klip River	13 Sep	The SAPS required the assistance of ORRU to search for a missing two-year-old in an informal settlement near Klip River. Locals had heard the child crying at approximately 01h00. The ORRU team conducted a foot search of the nearby wooded area. The child’s body was found in a septic tank behind the informal settlement.
46/2008	Missing fireman Magaliesberg	07 Sep	A call came in from the SAPS requesting the Unit to assist with searching for a missing farm worker who had been beating grass fires on the farm. The subject was found by the SAPS before the team was deployed.
45/2008	Suicide victim Krugersdorp Gauteng	13 Aug	The police were informed that a man had threatened to commit suicide and had walked off into the West Rand mine dumps. The Unit was called out and a team arrived on scene. Once more details were uncovered by the police it was decided that no-one's life was in danger and that the situation was not as dire as at first conveyed. The Unit was stood down and members returned home.
44/2008	Hijack victim Alberton Gauteng	06 Aug	The police called out the Unit to assist with a search and rescue for a hijacking victim. A team was assembled and they headed for the Rendezvous Point south of Johannesburg. Police were still actively tracking the car, and redirected Unit members to Alrode in Alberton as the car had now been driven there. The vehicle was tracked down to a house where the 'victim' was found with friends. Police took him away so that he could assist them with their enquiries.
43/2008	Missing man Brakpan Gauteng	02 Aug	Police called out the Unit to assist with the search early the next morning for a missing male in Brakpan North. Members responded but before a team could be chosen and informed, the police called back to say that the body had been located.
42/2008	Search for human remains Pretoria	30 Jul	The Unit received a call-out from the South African Police Service requesting assistance to search for human remains near Pretoria. The police had found part of what was thought to be a human skull as well as other bones. It was late afternoon and a search would only be effective until last light. Read more about this call-out here.
41/2008	Missing patient Weskoppies Krugersdorp	19 Jul	A patient had gone missing at the Weskoppies Hospital in Krugersdorp. Police called out the Unit to assist and a Code Yellow call-out was sent to members while police went to the scene to gather more intelligence. The missing patient was found and the Unit members were stood down.
40/2008	Police vehicle stuck Laezonia Gauteng	19 Jul	Police were busy searching for a missing person on open farmland when their 4x4 vehicle became bogged down in mud. The Unit was called out to assist and V32 Bruce and J32 Ross arrived on scene in 40 minutes and winched out the vehicle.
39/2008	Missing woman Elardus Park Pretoria	14 Jul	Police called out the Unit to assist in the search for a missing woman in Pretoria. Once on scene and searching, the team was hurriedly moved to a fresh crime scene to search for a hijack and rape victim. Read more about this call-out here.
38/2008	Missing schoolboy Kyalami Johannesburg	23 Jun	A 13-year-old schoolboy went missing from a private school in Kyalami. ORRU joined a large number of concerned civilians and authorities at the school to mount a search, but police found the boy before the search team was deployed. Read more about this call-out here.
37/2008	Missing woman Magaliesberg	08 Jun	No details available.
36/2008	Relocation of xenophobia victims Gauteng	01 Jun	Gauteng Disaster Management called in ORRU to manage the preparation of new refugee camps for victims of the xenophobic attacks in Gauteng over the previous weeks. Read more about this call-out here.
35/2008	Missing child Saxonwold Johannesburg	31 May	Police called on the Off Road Rescue Unit to assist them in the search for a missing 6-year-old child in Saxonwold. Members were called out but before teams could be assembled the police called back to say that the child had been found alive and well. Read more about this call-out here
34/2008	Possible suicide Ruimsig Johannesburg	30 May	Police called ORRU to assist them to search for a possible suicide victim in the Ruimsig area. Members were called out and a team was despatched. There was a positive outcome to the search when members found the subject and returned him unharmed to his family. Read more about this call-out here.
33/2008	Missing hiker Magaliesberg Northwest Province	24 May	A 55-year-old male hiker became separated from his group in the Magaliesberg gorges near Mountain Sanctuary Park. Both the Off-Road Rescue Unit and the Mountain Search and Rescue teams responded and the missing man was found and brought to safety unharmed. Read more about this call-out here.
32/2008	Missing toddler Soweto Johannesburg	22 May	The Rescue Unit was contacted by the police to assist them with a search in Soweto for a missing 3-year-old. Team searched until 0200 before being stood down. The next morning the boy was found sleeping in a factory.
31/2008	Civil unrest Gauteng	19 May	Johannesburg Disaster Management placed the Off Road Rescue Unit on standby in respect of the ongoing violence scattered around Johannesburg and Gauteng. Most of these attacks were described as xenophobic, and resulted in clashes between SA citizens and foreign nationals.
30/2008	Missing boy Magaliesburg	18 May	Police called out the Rescue Unit to assist in a search for a missing 10-year-old boy in the Magaliesburg area, who was later found safe and sound before teams could be dispatched.
29/2008	Missing boy Vosloorus Alberton	12 May	The police asked ORRU to assist in the search for a 5-year-old boy in the Vosloorus area. The responding team was later stood down by police after nothing was found.
28/2008	Missing woman Randfontein	11 May	The SAPS called out the Unit because its expertise was needed to search off-road in a bushy area near Randfontein where it was suspected that a woman missing for four weeks could have been located. Read more about this call-out here.
27/2008	Missing teenager Zoo Lake Johannesburg	10 May	A teenage girl went missing during a family picnic at the Zoo Lake. Members were called out to assist in the search. She later turned up unharmed. Read more about this call-out here.
26/2008	Missing aircraft Middelburg Mpumalanga	10 May	A microlight aircraft with two passengers had gone missing during a flight on a farm near Middelburg. The Air Rescue Coordination Centre called out the Off-Road Rescue Unit in conjunction with the Mountain Search and Rescue squad. Read more about this call-out here.
25/2008	Missing patient Pretoria	08 May	A 59-year-old female patient at the Weskoppies Hospital in Pretoria had gone missing. ORRU members were called out to assist. Despite searching the vast area and many buildings, she was not found. The next day she turned up at relatives of hers in Johannesburg. Read more about this call-out here.
24/2008	Missing girl Alberton	12 Apr	The Unit was called out by police to assist to look for a missing girl in Alberton. She was found before members arrived on the scene.
23/2008	Missing woman Lenasia West Rand	05 Apr	A woman went missing in Lenasia, and ORRU was asked to assist the police in finding her.
22/2008	Missing toddler Naturena Johannesburg	01 Apr	Police called out the Unit to assist with the search for a lost four-year-old child in Freedom Park, Naturena.
21/2008	SAPS stuck Kya Sands Randburg	27 Mar	The Police were searching near Kya Sands, Randburg, when their vehicle got bogged down in a swamp. ORRU was asked to assist in the recovery of the vehicle. Read more about this call-out here.
20/2008	Missing toddler Pretoria	09 Mar	A three-year-old boy had gone missing from his home inside a residential complex in Queenswood, Pretoria. ORRU members, as well as many members of the local community, assisted the SAPS with a night-time search. Read more about this call-out here.
19/2008	Missing man Johannesburg	08 Mar	A man had gone missing in mysterious circumstances and the Unit was asked to assist to try and find him. Later, evidence collected by the police at a factory in Kya Sands pointed to the likelihood that the missing man had been violently attacked. The Unit assisted the police in at least 11 searches over the next few weeks in various locations all over the Highveld, but without success.
18/2008	Missing girl Walkerville Meyerton	04 Mar	Police called on the Unit to assist them to look for a missing girl in the Walkerville area south of Johannesburg.
17/2008	Missing man Hammanskraal	02 Mar	A 70-year-old man went to visit a friend and then went missing. ORRU assisted the police to search for him. Read more about this call-out here.
16/2008	Missing teenager Tarlton West Rand	20 Feb	An 18-year-old female went missing from a farm where she was a lodger. The Rescue Unit was called out in the evening to assist police to look for her. Later that night a member of our Unit found the girl's body not far from the house. A case of murder was opened by the police. Read more about this call-out here
15/2008	Hijacked policeman Mabopane Limpopo	10 Feb	An off-duty policeman called his family on his cell phone to say that he had been hijacked. The victim's cell phone had remained switched on but no calls to it were being answered. Triangulation of its signals had indicated an area of probability in rough, rural terrain in Mabopane north of Pretoria and police called the Off-Road Rescue Unit to assist with the search. Read more about this call-out here.
14/2008	EMS Support Kempton Park, Gauteng	09 Feb	40 EMS personnel had been on the scene of a trench collapse all day and were in dire need of sustenance. ORRU was mobilised to supply them with the necessary but then they decided to stand down as the scene was too dangerous in the dark.
13/2008	Missing man East Rand, Gauteng	06 Feb	A man went missing on the East Rand and he did not have essential medication with him. ORRU was called out to search for him. The team was stood down at midnight and before they could resume the search the next morning, he arrived home safely.
12/2008	Factory fire East Rand, Gauteng	04 Feb	ORRU responded to a fire at a factory on the East Rand where the team supported EMS members.
11/2008	Missing persons Bapsfontein, Mpumalanga	03 Feb	The Rescue Unit was asked to assist police to look for a missing woman and child near Bapsfontein. Read more about this call-out here.
10/2008	Vehicle recovery Boksburg, Gauteng	28 Jan	An ORRU member had received a call from a friend at about 15h30, requesting his help to recover two vehicles (a Toyota Hilux, and a Land Rover Discovery) that had become stuck in swampy, deep mud on the East Rand. Read more about this call-out here.
09/2008	Police cars stuck Daleside, Gauteng	20 Jan	Police had been searching a river when four of their vehicles became bogged down in heavy mud. ORRU was asked to assist the police as the vehicles were on the river bank close to the rising river. All vehicles, including the police recovery vehicles, which was also stuck, were successfully recovered by the Unit.
08/2008	Flood victim Ivory Park, Gauteng	19 Jan	A woman had been swept away in a flooded river and the SAPS asked the Rescue Unit for assistance. The Unit was stood down when police decided that further searching was fruitless.
07/2008	Heavy rain Johannesburg, Gauteng	17 Jan	Torrential rain had been falling over Johannesburg and the team was placed on standby for possible assistance to police and EMS services in the likely event of flooding
06/2008	Stuck vehicle Ruimsig, Roodepoort, Gauteng	12 Jan	Some youngsters had been driving their Land Rover Defender through mud near the Ruimsig Athletics Stadium on the West Rand and the vehicle became bogged down in heavy mud. A passing police patrol found them and the police stood by while the eight or so people continued to try to recover the vehicle. At some point the police were called to respond to a reported robbery nearby. They called the Rescue Unit to say that the people were now be at risk of being robbed of their belongings and maybe also the three other vehicles which had joined the one bogged down. ORRU responded and recovered the vehicle safely. Read more about this call-out here.
05/2008	Missing glider Swellendam, Western Cape	12 Jan	The Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre contacted ORRU to place the unit on standby for a missing glider near Swellendam in the Western Cape.
04/2008	Possible floods Johannesburg	11 Jan	After three days of continuous rain in Johannesburg, the EMS was on high alert and the Rescue Unit went onto Code Blue standby because of the possibility of widespread flooding.
03/2008	Floods Zambia	10 Jan	In early January, Zambia received its heaviest rainfall since records began to be kept over 100 years ago. Over a million people were affected by general flooding in the south west of the country. Disaster Management put the Rescue Unit onto standby pending a call-out for members to be dispatched to the country by air or road (or both) to assist in rescuing flood victims. Members packed a wide range of equipment suitable for an international call-out, including long-range HF radios, medium-range VHF radios, digital mapping and printing equipment, power generators and personal gear. The unit was not called out, however the floods in Zambia still have to flow south in the Zambezi River through Zimbabwe, through the Kariba Dam and into Mozambique, where the Cahora Bassa Dam is already full and releasing large amounts of water. The Mozambican flood plains will become severely flooded within the next few weeks and the unit may yet be called to assist in that country.
02/2008	Floods Soweto, Johannesburg	06 Jan	The Rescue Unit was called out to assist with flooding in the south of Johannesburg where the Klip River had burst its banks. Members responded and where about to be dispatched when the authorities stood down the unit.
01/2008	Possible flooding Johannesburg, Gauteng	04 Jan	After heavy thunderstorms overnight, the Rescue Unit was placed on standby to assist with possible flooding of low-lying areas.

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