Sea rescuers : Société nationale de secours en mer

This SNSM company (abbreviation of Société nationale de secours en mer) was created in 1967 after the merger of 2 other companies that had been founded in 1865 and 1873. On April 30, 1970, the SNSM was recognized as being of public utility.

The SNSM teams

The rescuers who are part of the SNSM are all volunteers from maritime professions, fishermen, sailors, even pleasure boaters, they are all very experienced, and must be at the alert station within 20 minutes. They do not receive any salary, compensation or bonus. There are 11,000 of them in France, 12% of whom are women, and the average age is 49. All of this is supervised by a headquarters of 130 salaried employees with volunteer managers specialized in different skills.

Today, volunteers can come from different professional backgrounds. They then benefit from very advanced navigation and rescue training, and follow training on a regular basis throughout the year in the structures to which they are attached. There is a minimum age to join the SNSM as a lifeguard, set at 18 years old.

Each crew member has their specialty: skipper, radio operator, mechanic, boatman, first aider, on-board swimmer, on-board diver, lifeguard.

Figures for SNSM and its lifeguards

The SNSM has 206 lifeguard stations in metropolitan France and also overseas, 229 first aid stations on beaches and 32 training centers (figures provided by the SNSM).
In 2023, there were 440,000 hours of training and 371 new lifeguards, 27,400 people supported for 9,300 lifeguard interventions.
Its fleet consists of 785 boats with 17-meter offshore vessels capable of intervening effectively in heavy weather, 1st and 2nd class patrol boats of approximately 13 meters, which are unsinkable and self-righting, and which can therefore navigate in extreme conditions, semi-rigid boats with a significant traction capacity, inflatables, jet skis, etc.

The SNSM is not nationalized, but nevertheless carries out public service missions. In 2023, approximately 80% of the budget required for proper functioning comes from private donations (generosity of the public and private partners), the rest being financed on the one hand by the State, and on the other hand by the participation of local authorities (administrative structures that take care of the interests of the population and the territories).

The future of the SNSM?

A certain concern is felt at the level of volunteer commitments… this decline in people's commitment is also felt in other organizations or for other events that sometimes struggle to succeed in maintaining their organization. Society is changing, people are changing too.

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