Many years ago I emigrated from UK to USA, and went from Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue, a professional military organization, to a US volunteer Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) - affiliated team for a couple years, then on to a US National Association for SAR (NASAR) - affiliated team for a couple more, and then, and this was the bottom of the barrel, to a "Jeep Four By Four Search and Rescue Association" - affiliated team in a mountain west state. I'm unsure of the exact spelling or any acronym of this former national association.

Without naming any team or individual names or even the state, I will say that training standards, fitness, etc, were non-existent or abysmal. I lasted a year before I gave up, and later, as I followed my career around the country, found my way back to first to an MRA-affiliated, and then finally, a NASAR-affiliated organization, before I retired from SAR soon after Covid hit. (Forty-plus years total,1979-2020)

This was all long before the Internet became a thing for ordinary folks and there is no trace of any such outfit today. I sometimes think I dreamt it. Do any other old timers here know what happened to this group and when did they go defunct? I assume that NASAR won out eventually in the "survival of the fittest" race for national SAR organizations, but how did that happen? Was there blood? A shoot-out at the SAR corral?

All I know is that I was told that was their affiliation. Never saw any paperwork, books, training standards, any of that. If there ever were any.

Not that it matters, but I left after the team leader, no less, refused to believe me that snap link carabiners ought not be used for main belays.

Hello! I'm a student of industrial design and for a side project I'm currently looking into wilderness SAR and finding ways to make it a bit more efficient/easy. Specifically I've noticed that stretcher evacuations usually require at least 4, but usually around 6 rescuers to man. Is this tied directly to the encumbrance of the equipment and the maneuverability of the patient or is there more that I'm not seeing? What I assume is that, considering SAR teams are primarily volunteer based, whoever is able to join up on a mission will do so and the more people involved, the merrier. Thinking of this, is it possible to complete a stretcher evac of-- say-- somebody who is unable to walk for whatever reasons, with a team of 2 rescuers? I'd really like to hear all of your thoughts, even if it doesn't specifically relate to the use of stretcher equipment.

I am looking to volunteer for SAR, there is a little bit of wilderness but I think it will be majority urban search, does anyone have any insight on what urban SAR entails? What type of calls have you been on with urban?

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I'm about to enter my final weekend of training for SAR in my area and have been loving it so far! Although I've just done training, I'm finding it pretty rewarding and am excited to be able to give back to my community soon.

I am beginning to think about all the up front costs involved though. I'm doing it as a volunteer SAR member, so all the clothing/gear costs are on me and things are starting to get expensive.

Does anyone have ideas on how to keep costs low, or know of grants for individuals that would help to support my gear costs?

Would also love tips from more seasoned rescuers on anything! Gear, training, travel, tips while searching, all that good stuff!

Thanks so much!

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Looking for answers from prior service active duty folk, and people in or around Texas.

I’ll be departing the Army within the next two years and I’m trying to figure out what to do with my life. SAR has been a consistent as I’ve constantly changed my mind. I’m aware it’s mainly volunteer only, that’s fine.

My main question is, how is the transition? Do you get some semblance of the same camaraderie as when you were in? I’d imagine it’s much more fulfilling than many things I’ve done in the Army, but am I going to be surrounded by tryhards and Tacticool guys trying to LARP? Or highly motivated and professional individuals that are all on the same page?

To add, how is SAR in Texas? I’ve been browsing the TEXSAR website and I’ve drawn the conclusion that you’re either dealing with hurricanes or wildfires. Which is fine, however, I also noticed TEXSAR only has about 300 members statewide. So with that being said, as someone who would be going in completely blind to SAR, would it be more worthwhile to find some big volunteer fire department with a SAR team?

Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team

At 1310 hours the team was activated to a report of an injured skier in Cocaine Chute off of the Dana Plateau. Rescue base was established at Lee Vining Airport and air resources were requested and accepted from CHP - Central Division Air Operations H40 in Fresno. The Team began mission preparations while air resources were enroute. Team 1, a hasty medical team, was picked up by H40 and made multiple passes below and above Cocaine Chute to establish location of subjects.

Upon location of the subjects near the top, Team 1 was inserted above the entrance of Cocaine Chute at an elevation of 11,500ft, and H40 returned to Base to pick up more Mono SAR team members. Based on the subject’s location and reported injuries, Team 1 made the early call for an extended lower. Team 1 dropped in and began to evaluate and treat the subject for a variety of musculoskeletal injuries and a head injury. It was determined the subject's ski binding malfunctioned causing the subject to fall approximately 75' over a series of large exposed rocks near the top.

Teams 2 and 3 were inserted above Cocaine Chute with equipment for an extended sequence of lowers. All teams now together in the field, a mix of rock and snow anchors were built, the subject was packaged in our SKED litter and HPMK, and a 5-pitch lower spanning 3000’ commenced.

There was an initial goal of lowering the subject several pitches to a widening of Cocaine Chute where H40 would be more equipped to attempt a hoist. As evening approached, H40 came in to assess conditions and complete power checks. They quickly determined the conditions, primarily strong downdrafts, would prevent a hoist. They returned to Fresno and the Team activated alternate plans for rescue. Naval Air Station Lemoore SAR airship “Lasso 1,” an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, was contacted and accepted the mission. Team 1 continued their system of lowers down to a predeterminate landing zone (LZ).

Another team of SAR members, Team 4, launched from the bottom of V-bowl, which is currently primarily dirt and talus, with the Team’s titanium litter and Terra Tamer wheel. The plan was to eventually conjoin all teams and complete another long series of lowers from the bottom of Cocaine Chute to Highway 120 in case of further poor helicopter flying conditions.

After nightfall, Team 1 reached the LZ and awaited Lemoore SARs arrival. After several passes and power checks, Lemoore SAR set down and the patient was quickly onboarded and flown to CRMC in Fresno. All Team members began the long descent from Cocaine Chute apron, down V-bowl, arriving to Poole Power Plant Rd and, ultimately, rescue base at LV airport around 2400 hrs.

The Team is grateful for a successful rescue and greatly appreciates our air partners CHP - Central Division Air Operations & Naval Air Station Lemoore. As an arm of the Mono County Sheriff's Office, the Team is also incredibly grateful for all of the behind the scenes work our sergeant and deputy coordinators put in for a successful outcome.

Mono SAR is a 501(c)3 all-volunteer nonprofit team of mountain rescue professionals dedicated to our community. We are community funded and community driven. If you’d like to make a donation to Mono SAR, visit our website at mononsar.org.

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It has been awhile since I last posted but I have a call that’s for a lack of a better word a cold case how do I get it off my mind it’s not effecting me mentally in a negative way but it’s the fact I feel like we are overlooking something it only started to get on my mind at the beginning of last month and on and off this month.

Long story short I do a lot of foraging and fishing and this past weekend I got lost and had no cell service. I was able to (somehow) make it back to my car before sundown. This made me reflect on how ill-prepared I was for getting lost and how much worse it could have been had I not found my way back to my car.

From now on I am going to leave an action plan of sorts with my dad or another trusted contact. My question for you all is what information should be included in that plan? Would something like destination, activity, method of transportation, companions, departure date, and expected return time cover all of my bases? Am I missing anything that you as a S&R professional would deem important enough to be included with the above info that would aid you in finding me in the event I get lost for real?

Edited to add: I go foraging in the area I was at frequently so I didn't tell anyone I was going. So if I got lost no one would have known I was even missing. That's why I want to leave an action plan with a trusted person, so that I can be found if I get lost for real.

I’m completely new to S&R so this may be a stupid question, but is it possible to commute to trainings and missions with a motorcycle? It is my main form of transportation right now. I’m not sure if this is feasible with gear, conditions, ect;

Spent the past weekend learning about SAR in New Zealand.

All I gotta say is, kudos to y'all, y'all have a crazy amount of area to cover, terrain types, and when I heard about your multi-day cave systems, certain body parts may have puckered up.

Need more dogs though.

Hi all,

I've been doing some reading about some of the simulators and training options out there and it's pretty impressive. Just wanted to pose the question here and see what kind of metrics, if any, you would be interested in seeing, or think would be helpful when you did training or for upcoming trainees.

My guess is that some of the simulators out there now are tracking a lot of data, so it makes sense that there would be almost unlimited possibilities to show performance metrics. Things like cable management, hoist speed, etc.

What do you think would be interesting to see, or be helpful for learning hoist operations?

I'm searching for information, videos, guides, courses to help explain techniques and equipment used for delivering ropes/tag lines via drones. Applications would be: high-lines at elevation, tension diagonals, or simply getting rope from river right to river left.

I have seen course flyers for such a class but the total cost (fees, accomodations, travel) is prohibitive.

I've tried google, Facebook pages and reddit but haven't found much.

Options for drone usage are Matrice 210, M30T, Mavic 2 Thermal, Air 3, and Avata. Almost all already perform payload drops.

Thanks!

Edit: I'm hoping for more information on techniques found in this video. No one around me in doing anything like this. https://youtu.be/yFFP3SDvpKs?feature=shared

Does anyone have a good chart referencing flat to low angle to steep to high angle?

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for recommendations for a backpack, preferably a 24hour size, that I can use to carry basic safety gear, first aid, a few miscellaneous items, and most important a laptop with quick access. I am the IT/GIS guy for our drone team and we move around a lot and quickly, but still have to have all our gear. Other guys have regular bags but ones I tried it's still a pain to get a laptop in and out of it. Any recommendations on a good bag that might fit this role?

I’ve used this helmet for a while, it fulfills all of my needs.

Hello,

does anyone have experience commuting and training with the NJSAR team while living in manhattan? I work in NYC but would love to train with this team. However I am not sure if it is even feasible with bus hours, ect; Anyone else do this?

I'm studying for my WP-C and have looked at the candidate handbook and have most resources. I'm feeling the weakest at the rope systems snd technical rescue safety.

I currently have the NPS Technical Rescue Handbook and the Seth Hawkins Wilderness EMS book. Do you guys recommend any other resources?

Also any tips for the exam? I finished all the Mountain Rescue Association Courses and have TCCC / PFC CPG memorized by heart (I have FP-C and TP-C currently)

US FF and newbie volunteer SAR tech (though on the east coast, so it doesnt really count lol) here. I was listening to a SAR podcast, where they had a mission that they chose to accept. And then chose to jump out of the aircraft into the horrendous conditions when they got there, to potentially save 2 people. and one of the 3 crew members died. Everyone on the crew said "he made the right decision to sacrifice his own life to save another". I am trained the priorities are 1. you 2. your crew 3. others. And this guy died, and made a decision that almost had his other 2 crew members killed. So isn't that the ultimate wrong decision? I know we risk our lives, and that is our job, but where do you all draw the line? What are your thoughts?

Going to SRT-1 next month. Don’t have an itinerary yet. What to expect? And what do your teams do with this type of cert/mission space?

Hiya! I'm looking to speak to any other BCSARA medical holders (PCPs, Nurses, doctors) or just a team member about how their team is approaching advanced medical protocols and treatments. I'm looking to assist in the revamp of my team's medical program and would like to hear how other teams are handling this. I'm happy to speak in the DMs or below.

We've been on this platform for many years but will have to look for alternatives soon. We use MM in conjunction with sartopo, which was a fairly recent transition. So probably not against the idea of an all in one solution if they exist.

Hi everyone
I'm looking for recommendations for K9 harnesses for golden retrievers. Thinking about getting a couple for my friend that has 2 SAR/Cadaver dogs. Thinking maybe something that could have a guardian angle secured to the top.

Thanks in advance!

Hey all, I’m thinking about buying my dog a GPS tracking unit. I had an Alpha 100, but its starting to wear out.

I’ve realized that I really only use my Alpha for seeing distance and direction of travel of my dog, as well as alerts for him stopping. If I need to see ground he’s covered, I’ll check the map, but I don’t use it much.

The 300 makes a lot of sense. It is the logical continuation of the system I already know.

The 10 makes sense because it is half the price of the 300, and the handheld only reads distance, direction, and alerts. Which is mostly what I use anyways. The Garmin app connects via bluetooth, and lets me see a map on a much larger and nicer screen than the 300. I can still track other dogs, I can still track team members, I’ll just see them on a phone instead of a 300. Don’t need cell service for the connection to work.

What are your thoughts?

Just got a SAR Tactical, straight from Team Wendy. Made in China. I was under the impression that they were all manufactured in Cleveland OH.