When our community calls, we answer.
Professional emergency response and compassionate support, delivered free to the community, day and night. We are your neighbours: trained volunteers who give up nights, weekends and working days to turn out for you.
Medical • Rescue • Fire • 4x4 • SAR • Drone • Training • Community SupportCompassion drives elite care.
- 178
- call-outs in the last six months
- 103
- patients helped
- R0
- charged to any of them
- 30
- calls a month, on average
Figures are for the six months to November 2026. Every volunteer gives their time for free.
Community driven. Community dispatched. No bills. No accounts.
Guardian Rescue is a self-funded network of emergency first responders serving people who may have no medical aid, no available transport and no other immediate support.
Primary response technology: AURA
AURA helps connect and dispatch available primary responders, so the closest help is tasked first.
Non-aligned. CPF-driven.
Provider-neutral and community accountable. We cooperate with every appropriate ambulance, fire, rescue, security, SAPS, municipal and private emergency service provider.
Who we are
Guardian Rescue exists because help should reach everyone. Government ambulance crews work themselves to the bone, but there are simply not enough of them to get to every call. Private services are there for people with medical aid, or who can pay, and many families cannot.
We are volunteers. We turn out at night, on weekends and in the middle of the working day, free of charge, so that no one in trouble has to wait alone.
Tim (Bear) Gray
GR01Founder and Director. Intermediate life support.
Mandy Gray
GR02Director and Deputy Manager of the EMS. Intermediate life support.
Lourens Swanepoel
GR03Director and Manager of the EMS. Our drone pilot, through his licensed operator.
Dr Steven Lunt
F1Chief Medical Officer. Gives his medical oversight for free.
And our volunteer responders across the suburbs, who come out when the phone rings.
How do you want to help?
Pick one. Each takes about two minutes.
Give, and see what it pays for
Choose an amount, or tap an item. Everyone who responds is a volunteer, so your gift goes to oxygen, medical stock, fuel and insurance.
These are typical prices we pay. The amount you choose here is a guide; on BackaBuddy you type your own amount.
Bank details
- Account name
- Guardian Rescue Volunteer Services NPC
- Bank
- First National Bank
- Account number
- 6318 3982 454
- Branch code
- 254 605
- Account type
- Cheque
- Reference
- Donation + your name
To give every month, set up a standing order with the reference “Monthly + your name”.
Your gift is tax-deductible
SARS approved Guardian Rescue under Section 18A from 20 August 2026 (PBO 930090576).
Email your proof of payment, with your name, ID or company registration number and address, to info@guardianrescue.co.za and we will send your certificate.
Prefer to give kit?
See exactly what we need right now, and offer an item with one tap.
What we do
Tap a service to see what it covers.
Emergency medical response
Volunteer intermediate life support, basic life support and first responder teams. Calls are sent out through our 24-hour line and the AURA emergency response app, closest responder first. A second responder follows with heavier kit, such as a large oxygen cylinder, when it is needed.
We give immediate assessment and lifesaving first response, and support until transport or a higher service arrives. Our 4x4 vehicles reach difficult terrain and remote scenes.
Road accident management and scene safety
A safe scene comes first, for the patient, for our responders and for bystanders.
- Scene approach and vehicle positioning
- Hazards and traffic awareness
- Patient access
- Multi-agency coordination
- Safe working zones and lighting
- Communications and bystander protection
Specialized Rescue Unit, Sierra Romeo 1
The Guardian Rescue Volunteer Services NPC Specialized Rescue Unit, call sign Sierra Romeo 1, brings an unusual mix of skills to one vehicle:
- Steep slope rescue
- High angle rope rescue
- Light motor vehicle rescue
- Swift water and flood rescue
- Scene safety and scene management
- 4x4 response
Fire and rescue
Trained, certified firefighters support fire scenes. Our qualified and certified firefighters have already paid for their own protective gear.
Protect our greenbelts. Protect our community. Wildfires threaten the extensive greenbelts in our response area, damaging wildlife, vegetation and natural habitats. We are launching a wildland firefighting unit: a trailer-mounted veld firefighting skid unit to complement our rescue unit and build local response capacity. The team is ready. The next step is the equipment.
Our vision: a trailer-mounted veld firefighting skid unit.
Helicopter landing zones
Our trained landing-zone technicians establish, secure and manage safe helicopter operating areas for HEMS and multi-agency incidents.
- Site selection: size, slope, surface, debris, dust and drainage
- Hazards: wires, poles, trees, structures, animals, people and traffic
- Ground-to-air radio updates
- Perimeter and scene control
- Aircraft approach and handover with the flight crew
Emergency drone response
Drones help search for missing people and support SAPS, fire services and search teams. The drone service is provided by Lourens Swanepoel, a Guardian Rescue director, through his CAA-licensed Part 101 operator, Cymbidium Safety Group (Pty) Ltd. He donates his time, qualifications, licence and registration to the community on Guardian Rescue’s behalf. All insurance and compliance sit with Cymbidium.
- Thermal search at night and in vegetation or smoke
- Live aerial overwatch for incident commanders
- Fire and hotspot support
- Road incident intelligence
- Mapping and damage assessment after floods and storms
- Sector searches for missing people
Compassionate and end-of-life care
Dignity, family support, symptom-assistance coordination and a calm human presence. We support palliative patients and their families at home, and give free declarations of death for funeral homes.
Training and education
Fully accredited first aid, fire and occupational health and safety training for the public and workplaces, plus community education and open days. All training income funds our volunteer service.
What we are not
We are not an ambulance and we do not transport patients. When someone needs hospital transport, we bring in a private ambulance service. We do not provide event medical standby. We do not charge for our response.
Open the bag. See what it costs.
Every vehicle is a mobile support platform, ready for medical, rescue, fire and scene-safety tasks.
Medical
Oxygen, AED and defibrillation support, monitoring, trauma bags, medications and disposable stock.
Scene
Lighting, cones, PPE, fire extinguishers, tools, blankets and road-incident safety equipment.
Communications
Radios, push-to-talk, mobile dispatch, navigation and inter-agency communications.
Mobility
4x4 access, recovery basics, roof and load systems, fuel and maintained tyres.
Here is what we replace after calls. Tap an item, then tap “Fund this” to set your gift.
Oxygen is the first thing many patients need. Each cylinder we use has to be refilled before the next call.
One serious bleed can use a haemostatic dressing and a pressure bandage together. A pressure bandage alone costs over R300.
When a bag runs low it has to be restocked before the next turnout. We have paid for three restock packs in a single month.
Used sharps and medical waste are collected and destroyed safely by a licensed contractor, so nothing dangerous is left in our community.
Our 4x4 response vehicles cover heavy mileage, often at speed and fully loaded. Filling one costs over R2 000.
Every new volunteer is issued a jacket. We can carry your company’s logo on the jackets we brand.
How a call works
Call or app
A community member calls our 24-hour line, 087 265 0486, or activates help through the AURA app.
Community dispatch
The closest available Guardian emergency first responders are identified and tasked.
Rapid response
A fully equipped response vehicle moves to the scene with communications and medical stock.
Support to resolution
We manage scene safety, deliver immediate care and coordinate the right onward service. You are never billed.
Are you in our area?
Choose your suburb.
We answer. We care. We serve.
Compassion drives elite care.
What we need right now
Each of these is a specific item. Tap “I can help” and your email app opens with the item filled in.
Veld fire unit kit
A 600 litre tank, high-pressure pump, hose reels and hoses. The trailer is already sponsored.
I can helpSwift water rescue gear
Personal flotation devices and rescue equipment for the swift water team.
I can helpScene and search lighting
Mid-range roof and scene lights for night searches for missing people.
I can helpFuel
One fill of a 4x4 response vehicle costs over R2 000, and our vehicles cover heavy mileage.
I can helpUniform and safety boots
Matching trousers, boots and shirts for about 16 responders, so the team works safely and looks the same.
I can helpVehicle branding
Reflective red, blue and white livery, one vehicle at a time or the whole fleet.
I can helpFor companies and sponsors
Your support keeps trained volunteers equipped, and your name travels with our vehicles through the suburbs we serve.
- Sponsorship starts at R500 a month.
- Reflective branding on a response vehicle, from about R5 000 to R7 000 each.
- Your logo on our website, social media and newsletters.
- A Section 18A certificate, so your gift is tax-deductible.
- You can sponsor a single item, a vehicle or a monthly amount.
With thanks to
- AURAThe emergency response app that helps dispatch our responders, and monthly support.
- PangolinChainsaw chaps for the rescue unit.
- EMEDUVACEmergency warning lights for the Specialized Rescue Unit.
- NBIRope for the rescue team.
- FixcarSupporting our volunteers.
- AED South AfricaSupporting our volunteers.
Accredited training
Our training is fully accredited, and proof of accreditation is available on request. Every rand of training income funds our volunteer service.
First Aid Level 1
2 daysFirst Aid Level 2
3 daysFirst Aid Level 3
4 daysCPR and AED
5 hoursCPR
1 hourEmergency First Responder
6 to 8 daysWilderness First Aid (ECSI)
5 daysBasic Fire Fighting
5 hoursIncludes Fire Evacuation Marshal and Fire Warden.
Occupational health and safety
Ask us for the current courses
Fire extinguisher and evacuation training for groups
Hands-on skills. Real confidence. Safer schools. We come to you and teach your people to use an extinguisher, recognise fire risks and get out safely.
- Supervised live pan-fire training
- Practical learning with real extinguishers
- Evacuation drills
- For school staff, businesses and community groups
Next course dates are on our Facebook page. Group and workplace bookings: ask us.
Ask about a course
Become a Guardian
Everyone may apply, and every application is considered. To respond to emergencies, you must be registered with the HPCSA. If you are suitable, we pay for your accredited training and take you all the way to registration.
- Training runs once or twice a year over several weekends. If you apply between intakes, we hold your application for the next one.
- Send a short motivation in a Word document: what you can offer us, and what we can offer you. The board reads every one.
- Responders give about 24 hours a month with us, plus about 24 hours a month on an ambulance with a partner service to keep their skills current.
You do not need to be a medic
We also need people who can help behind the scenes:
- General administration and bookkeeping
- Call taking and dispatch, including night shifts
- Graphic design and multimedia
- Marketing, fundraising and sponsorship
- Chaplains and trauma counsellors
About us
Guardian Rescue Volunteer Services NPC is a registered non-profit company. Our emergency medical division trades as Guardian Rescue EMS. We are volunteers first, and that is the heart of who we are.
Registered and approved
- Non-profit company NPC2025/776378/08
- SARS-approved public benefit organisation, PBO 930090576
- Section 18A approved from 20 August 2026
Who runs it
- Directors: T. Gray, M. Gray and L. Swanepoel
- Chief Medical Officer: Dr S. Lunt
Our documents
We publish our governing documents. Ask for any of them and we will email a copy.
- Constitution and by-laws
- PAIA manual and POPIA manual
- SARS PBO and Section 18A approval letters
Emergencies only on this number. Please do not use the forms on this page for an emergency.
Contact us
Email: info@guardianrescue.co.za
Based in Northcliff, Johannesburg
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Compliments and complaints
Tell us how we did. Your message goes to our complaints manager. It is not shared with anyone outside Guardian Rescue.
Send us a message
For non-urgent questions. We reply within 24 hours.