Rescue teams rise to the challenge

BSR has more than 50,000 registered volunteers and 600 authorized teams in most provinces and regions. It is also China's first registered nonprofit volunteer rescue group.

Under a model titled "brand authorization management", the headquarters in Beijing includes a qualified regional team as part of the BSR system. The team is authorized to use a code name to carry out rescue missions.

The regional team is run and operated independently for most of the time, but must follow unified standards and adhere to BSR's philosophy of providing free humanitarian relief operations to the public.

Typically, a local rescue team needs at least one year of preparation and assessment before it can become a "brand authorized team".

At the very beginning, BSR was just a small, loose-knit group, with several outdoor enthusiasts.

"We started with outdoor sports rescue because we loved hiking or climbing, and we had some rescue skills," Zhang said. "But we were quite disorganized and not that professional at the time."

With demand increasing, Zhang and his teammates launched and established Blue Sky Rescue. It has since become well-known.

The Lvye Charity Mountain Rescue Organization, one of the first civil organizations in China to carry out outdoor public rescue activities, was founded in 2003 by a group of outdoor sports lovers with an enthusiasm for public welfare.

Peng Chunhong, who is known as Du Chong ("Poisonous insect") in the outdoor community, said an incident inspired him and his friends to set up an organization that could conduct systematic and organized rescue operations.

Thirteen people lost their way while hiking on suburban Beijing's Yunmeng Mountain in 2003. The news spread within the outdoor sports community, and dozens of well-intentioned people rushed to the area, which to some extent was a waste of time, manpower and material resources, Peng said.

After years of development, Lvye has grown from a group of just 12 volunteers to more than 800 registered members with different skills, such as medical treatment, radio communication and rope techniques.