Foyle Search and Rescue:
Our Story
Foyle Search and Rescue was set up by local people in 1993 in response to the alarmingly high number of drownings in the River Foyle in Northern Ireland – 30 within 18 months – and has adopted the role of preventing suicide and supporting families in the City.
The organisation’s volunteers are from the local community and selflessly give up hours of their personal time every week to help those in need. The team patrol the river on Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights from 9pm to 3am, which are identified peak times of need, engaging with people in distress, maintaining lifebelts and saving lives.
Foyle Search and Rescue has an Emergency Response Pager Team, made up of dedicated volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day 365 days a year, for incidents and emergencies outside of patrol times. This team are paged by the PSNI
(Police Service of Northern Ireland) to respond to potential suicide attempts and
incidents in and around the river. This team also acts as a body recovery team which searches for any person missing in the river and recovers the body with the greatest dignity.
Foyle Search and Rescue facilitates the North West Bereaved by Suicide Support Group for families and friends who have lost a loved one to suicide and are also involved in education on water safety and suicide awareness within our local community.