English
Welcome to the website of “KOTEL”!
We are a Volunteer Firefighters and Life Saving Association.
“KOTEL” Association was established in Kaposvar, March 1998, by fifty-two founding members.
We called our Association into existence with the express purpose of enhancing Kaposvar and its vicinity’s fire safety, protecting the lives of its inhabitants by providing speedy, effective and professional assistance in emergency situations, while simultaneously aiding authorities in their operations in times of crises. To this day, our aim remains the same.
We strive for maximal professionalism in performing our duties. Our members regularly receive special trainings in rescue operations, both in the form of lectures and hands-on instruction. Although members of our Association come from all walks of life, they are united by the common, deep-seated desire to save lives in the event of fire and accidents, as well as other natural and man-made disasters.
We started out with one used off-road car, however, today we have a pool of specialized vehicles at our disposal, outfitted with the instruments necessary for carrying out our diverse range of rescue operations. Our equipment includes fire rescue trucks with small- and large diameter hoses, an air-cushion craft and speedboats, alongside other types of rescue vehicles.
“KOTEL” Association has earned countrywide and international acclaim for its highly skilled members and its commendable rescue capabilities.
During our fifteen years of service we have participated in more than a thousand rescue missions, most of which have been technical rescue operations at accident sites. In addition to these, we have assisted in cases of fire nearly two hundred times, and have helped search for missing persons on over a hundred occasions. We have also played an active role in flood control and other types of emergency operations throughout Hungary.
All current seventy-five members of our non-profit Association are volunteers, participating jointly in our rescue missions. We are nationally and internationally certified, which allows us to partake in rescue operations beyond our borders, either independently, or by cooperating with local units.
Our association has members trained in practically all types of rescue methods used worldwide. Among our ranks are medical experts, qualified divers, alpine technical staff, search and rescue dog trainers, firefighters and skilled rescue operations coordinators.
We place great emphasis on keeping the population, especially our youth, informed of and involved in our rescue activities to the maximum extent possible. In order to achieve this we visit schools and local communities on a regular basis to introduce ourselves and our mission, to raise awareness and engage them in hands-on training in crisis prevention and management, while we teach the children through role playing and mini-competitions.
We maintain strong relations with the (volunteer?) firefighters of many other countries, and have a large number of sister organizations, such as those in Glinde, Germany; Wilach, Austria; Tilburg, The Netherlands; Szekelykeresztur, Romania; and Dercen, Karpatalja. We have built a friendly association with the Dutch organization called “Firemen Without Borders”, within the framework of which we have acquired special rescue equipment that was distributed among organizations similar to ours in Somogy county and outside of Hungary, increasing the quality of their services.
We trust that by capitalizing on an ever-widening range of partnerships united under the common goal of firefighting and life saving we will be able to carry on with our activities for many decades to come, never losing sight of the principles used as cornerstones at the time of the formation of our association.
