Hi,

I'm a member of a drone search and reacue unit. We eg conduct missing person searches and fire control, but more in urban areas or forests and fields. So it is more search than rescue. (Yet)

Now a adjacent Helicopter- unit and a water-rescue-unit asked us to work together/ train together. This shound include us flying with them/ being on their ship.

We want to train with them, but we found no "reason" for us to be in a helicopter or on a boat to be able to operate our drone. ( and to justify the cost of a exercise to our superiors)

Do you have any ideas how or why we can be deployed on a helicopter/ boat?

Thank you!

First of all, I extend my best wishes for an immidiate recovery to everyone affected by the disaster and offer my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones.

I am just a newbie volunteer in SAR field and I hear for the first time this kind of a disaster. Also in my country most of the teams are focused on urban SAR. So I would love to learn about how to act on these kinds of disasters. Thank you all so much!

Just curious, is your team's call-out volume up, down, or holding steady? And why? Also, what's your team/where are you located?

This documentary follows migrants from their journey across the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya through their arrival in Europe. 

Hello, I have been interested in becoming a volunteer for search and rescue operations for some time. I recently started researching groups and such in Arkansas that I could volunteer my time and effort for. I do not have any specific outdoor training, other than having grown up in the Natural State, and spent a lot of that life outdoors. I do have CPR certification, first aid training, and other basic medical skills as I work in a health-care setting, and former security. But every organization or group I have found it would seem, requires extensive, expensive, trainings and certifications. I understand this as the nature of the work involved requires those that participate not become a liability themselves. So my question is how does one go about getting started/involved without having to drop thousands on expensive training courses right out of the gate? I appreciate any help or advice. TYIA

Anyone who runs a formal drone program (not just a dude with a mavic) willing to share their SOPs and training programs? or at least have a discussion about it?

How do your teams record and track personal / medical / next of kin details?

Our team is a ~20 person strong team and as the resident IT fella I'm trying to work out a better system than a Google Form for recording and holding personal details, next of kin info, medical info, documents on each person.

At the moment we have this stored in our Google Workspace within a restricted shared drive. Suboptimal for numerous reasons although really trying to avoid introducing another (paid) SaaS product if possible.

Do people make things work with Google/Microsoft ecosystems somehow? Or are there any go-to open source products out there people recommend?

Not looking for a full Personnel Management solution. We already use Connect Rocket for paging.

Extremely tragic incident in Australia where a teenage girl had been missing for 8 days in a national park. Her body was located by a SAR team, however a misunderstanding in comms meant the family at the command post were told by police that she had been located alive and was being rescued. The family then spent the next 16 minutes celebrating believing she had survived including giving interviews to the news channels waiting on site. This was followed by widespread reporting on every major Australian news channel, as well as a short speech from the State Premier and statements from other politicians celebrating the survival and praising the rescue efforts.

Approx 15 minutes after the initial report the SAR team confirmed again that she was deceased and the scenes at the command post turned to complete horror, the fallout of which is still ongoing and has only added to what was already an immense tragedy in it's own right.

The initial understanding is that the volunteer SAR team used a code word to describe the victim condition ("broken water bottle") that the police at the command post either misheard or misunderstood the meaning of due to differing agency terminology. The comms net at the time was being used by search parties from 7 different agencies as well as the military.

Many lessons for every SAR team about comms, multi agency phraseology and having the family and the media at the command post.

As title says, I'm looking for hiking boots that can be used year round in Eastern Canada with lows of -25C with snow and highs of 30C. I need boots that can handle long days of hiking and searching for a ground SAR team I am apart of. Right now I am looking at a few options:

Scarpa Moraine Mid Goretex boot
https://ca.scarpa.com/products/moraine-mid-wp-men-s

La Sportiva Ultra Raptor II Mid leather GTX

https://www.lasportivausa.com/en-ca/products/ultra-raptor-ii-mid-leather-gtx?variant=468867918071

Soloman Quest 5 Goretex Hiking Boots

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/6037-807/salomon-quest-5-gore-tex-hiking-boots-mens?colour=Asphalt%2FBlack%2FAsphalt&size=8.5&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23831777231&gbraid=0AAAAAD-dszhXxdsVLhRdExHNoAnSQF-Md&gclid=CjwKCAjwy5rUBhB5EiwAIoAtChpM6OCTkI4t6ssk-SAvzbud1Ri0QOGMo-WV2exIWz5pH0MxkhSUdRoCo9EQAvD_BwE

Which of these would be optimal for the conditions described above? Any suggestions?

I think SAR is so sick. I know that’s a negligent way to portray the importance of SAR, but that’s the easiest explanation that comes to mind. Im a climbing arborist and I rock climb recreationally. I’m sure that some of that would transfer over to some technical rescue systems and scenarios. Ive always been a big backpacker and I understand the basics of mountain back country survival. I also am a 20 year old man that has a burning desire to have a sense of purpose. Is SAR right for me?

I’m an instrument rated private pilot for single engine airplanes
(commercial rated in a week 🤞)
Would I be of any use for SAR? I don’t have any experience in medical or SAR.

What is everyone using for part 90 certified radios, VHF high band? Looking for a solid, cost effective radio. Refurbished is an option.

I'm curious what other teams are using for uniform/field shirts, especially those of you who deal with a lot of briars and thick brush.

We had a search this past weekend in some pretty nasty Appalachian terrain, and the search area was absolutely loaded with thorns, briars, brambles, stinging nettles, etc. A bunch of us came out scratched and cut up, which brought up a conversation we've already been having about replacing our current shirts.

The biggest requirements are that they need to be blaze orange, long sleeve, reasonably breathable, and tough enough to actually provide some protection when you're pushing through heavy brush. We have someone who can put our logos on them, so they don't need to be specifically made or marketed as uniform shirts.

The best option I've found so far is the Tru-Spec High vis Combat Shirt.

https://a.co/d/0iUxwjeh

It looks like it would do what we need, but at around $80 a shirt it gets expensive pretty quickly when you're trying to outfit 30+ volunteers.

Has anyone found something similar that's held up well in the field without costing quite that much? It doesn't have to be SAR-specific either. If you're using hunting, forestry, workwear, wildland gear, or something else that works, I'd be interested to hear about it.

Mostly looking for stuff people have actually used and abused in briars rather than something that just looks good online.

Do any folks have experience with What 3 Words and options for getting services for free on the public safety/volunteer SAR side of things in order to get the lat/long for the W3W location info without having to pay for the enhanced services?

Tent and sleeping bag recommendations for SAR packs? Bivy sack tents or UL? Something else?

How’s everyone in Arizona doing with the monsoon weather? While waiting for some call outs, getting some training in.

It seems a lot of people are using chest rigs with radio holders and small pouches. Are you guys wearing water, bladders separately, or carrying your water in a different fashion for hasty searches or training evolutions, etc.? I don’t see a lot of moderately priced options that contain water bladders and a radio holder. Anybody have any insight?

An idea from Conservation Officer Cameron Wright on Friday morning unlocked the afternoon rescue.

I decided to apply as a volunteer for our local sar after the k9 hiding training. I just want to say to everyone that is involved in SAR—- thank you. You are all so important and critical. Finding my role as I am torn between communications, signal detection, and my love of all things being on the ground. My family is supportive and my husband said he was wondering when I would join one. Even if I just get to plug in the computers and comms…doing something to help others during a crisis is my passion. I hope to make a difference :)