Getting help on the mountain

On the mountain and other places that are difficult to access, in case of an accident or injury, call the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS).

You can reach them:

  • by dialling 112 – the number of the National Protection and Rescue Directorate
  • if you are in Medvednica, the City of Zagreb or Zagreb County area, by dialling 091/5082-556 – direct number of HGSS Zagreb

On Medvednica there are several HGSS info points (on most mountain huts, on the HGSS hut at the top of the ski resort and elsewhere where there is an HGSS plate). During the skiing season, the members of HGSS are always on watch at the ski resort during the cable car working hours.

Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) is a volunteer, professional and humanitarian public service. Its basic goals are the prevention of accidents and provision of rescue and first aid on mountains and other inaccessible areas where it is necessary to apply expert knowledge and use special technical rescue equipment.

The service was founded in 1950 as an internal service of the Croatian Mountaineering Association. Since then it has grown into a public service which looks after the safety of citizens 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is a non-profit association which provides a service of interest to the Republic of Croatia.

Today, the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service has around 800 members deployed in 24 units which cover the whole territory of the Republic of Croatia.

The mountain rescuers are excellent alpinists, speleologists, mountaineers and skiers who go through special training for the provision of first medical aid and all techniques of mountain rescue, including helicopter rescuing and rescuing on inaccessible terrains with the help of search and rescue dogs. The members of HGSS continue to perfect their knowledge and skills in regular rescue drills as well as many watches and interventions.

Since HGSS is a non-profit organization, its functioning and the work of its members have a completely voluntary basis, which means that they get no compensation for the interventions they perform. The search and rescue actions are not charged and these brave men and women volunteer to spend their time rescuing other people’s lives. The service has performed more than 6.000 rescue actions, always abating the effect of the accident or injury, reducing invalidity and speeding up recovery, and in many cases saving a human life under dramatic circumstances. This realisation is the greatest reward for all the efforts of our volunteers.

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