Gallery: Rescue Zeeland 2023

Rescue Zeeland, formerly Rescue Vlissingen, is an event showcasing the work of international rescue professionals to the general public in Vlissingen in the Netherlands. The free one-day event attracted about 50,000 visitors as Dutch police, military, fire services, ambulances and HEMS, as well as international special missions operators, presented their vehicles and specialized equipment to the audience gathered at the seaside boulevard. Although it was primarily the national services on display, the event included international participants, such as the Belgian HEMS mobile urgency group service that occasionally assists across the border, and German naval participants.

There was a full program with a variety of demonstrations – the ones that involved helicopters in rescues at sea and on the beach holding a special interest for the audience. One such was an EC135 police helicopter that dropped a ‘rescue-stick’ – a small package with an automatic (on contact with water) inflatable life vest close to a swimmer in need. There were also hoist operations at sea from an AW189 Coast Guard helicopter, operated by Bristow from its nearby location in Midden-Zeeland airport, as well as a ‘Lifeliner’ HEMS H135 and its medical crew, who demonstrated their skills in a simulated incident. Military participants included a Belgian Navy NH90, and a German Navy NH90 that responded to a simulated scenario of a ship on fire, evacuating sailors by hoist while fire service vessels extinguished the flames using their water cannons.

The 2023 event was the 12^th edition of Rescue Zeeland, which launched in 2007 as Rescue Vlissingen. As well as the static displays, the audience was treated to a full day of events with a variety of rescue demonstrations, from swimmers in distress to evacuations from a ship on fire. What started as a small local event to highlight aid and rescue services has grown into an international collaboration with participants from the UK, Belgium and Germany, and this year even had a damaged ground ambulance covered in bullet holes from Ukraine on display.