The Edelweiss (Italian voluntary rescue organisation based in the region of Calabria) was founded in 1996 by a group of individuals who were part of another voluntary organisation specialising in first aid.

Initially, the major fields within which the Edelweiss operated were forest firefighting and first aid.  During the first years after its inception, the Edelweiss volunteers took an active role in all of the Italian emergency situations as well as in foreign deployments for humanitarin aid, such as in Albania and Kosovo.

In 2002, the Edelweiss established good relations with the Maltese governmental Civil Protection Department and also managed a twinning agreement with the same entity.  Since 2002, the Edelweiss delved into more specialised fields of rescue, such as Urban Search & Rescue, Rope Rescue, Swift Water Rescue as well as Rescue Diving.  In 2011, the Edelweiss established another twinning agreement, this time with the Emergency Fire & Rescue Unit of Malta.

In 2012, a number of Edelweiss representatives gained further rescue experience through their participation in the European rescue competition, that goes by the name of GrimpDay, and competed with another 30 teams from 15 different European countries.

Since then, the Edelweiss has officialised further twinning agreements with various other voluntary rescue organisations from different European countries, namely Portugal, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland and Greece.

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