In a seldom and unfortunate turn of events, when a climber falls sick from abrupt illness or an injury while on the mountain, help might be required in the form of airlifting by helicopter rescue and evacuation. That is where the Kilimanjaro Search and Rescue (Kilimanjaro SAR) team comes in.

With a swift response time of 5 minutes from the time they receive a distress call, it can take an injured climber less than 15 minutes to be already receiving treatment in the helicopter then afterward treatment can proceed at the high altitude medical clinic, immediately upon landing that the Moshi Airport.

Kilimanjaro SAR vows to provide prompt/urgent medical care, response, and evacuation for all-mountain climbers. Kilimanjaro SAR also gives back to the community by offering free evacuation and treatment for guides, porters, mountain staff, and park rangers free of charge through the works of their charitable foundation.

They have high-altitude helicopters capable of landing on any suitable area on the mountain with an average, quick response time for air rescue of 5 minutes. KSAR has a fully-trained medical team that can solve and handles any health problems that may arise while on the mountain even in difficult times and conditions.

Before the establishment of Kilimanjaro Search and Rescue which is a local operator based in Moshi, the nearest town to Mount Kilimanjaro, just a stone’s throw away, helicopter evacuations used to be dispatched from Nairobi which is much further from Kilimanjaro. It was not usually reliable by far and there were long delays, bearing in Mind that Nairobi is in the neighbouring country of Kenya and not in Tanzania. Things are much easier now as, from Moshi, help in the form of a helicopter can arrive in as little as 15 minutes on the mountain.