I'm a (hiking) writer and a
volunteer with Coconino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team, based
in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Ours is the second largest county in the U.S., including Grand Canyon National Park and the Navajo, Havasupai, Hualapai, and
Hopi Indian Reservations within its boundaries. Elevations here range from 2,000 feet above sea level
along the Colorado River to 12,633 feet at the summit of Mt. Humphreys in
Flagstaff, so our search and rescue team operates in a variety of
terrain and environments, from alpine conditions to desert, mountains and
canyons.
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If you're interested
in joining a search and rescue team and are in the US, a good place to start
is to contact your area Sheriff's Department, since many SAR teams are under
their supervision. And if that's not the case in your area, the Sheriff's
Office can tell you who to contact. You can also search for a SAR team in the
directories here, starting with US Ground Teams.
Search and rescue has a number of disciplines, including wilderness search, mountain rescue,
technical or rock rescue, swift water, and dive SAR. SAR members participate in
body recoveries and evidence searches as well, and some people specialize in K9
and mounted SAR (on horseback).
Most SAR members are volunteer professionals, and training is usually provided by the individual units, which
will each have their own prerequisites for membership. Some teams have few
requirements, such as a minimum age limit and level of fitness, while other teams
may have more, like specific medical training. You should inquire with the team
you're interested in joining.
Search and rescue has many benefits for those who participate. Certainly one of those benefits is the satisfaction that comes from
helping others. It's also an opportunity to learn and practice many different
kinds of skills, including various types of navigation, tracking, rock rescue,
and so forth. There are local, regional, and national SAR conferences, where
you can take workshops and meet SAR members from all over. Being in SAR is
great for those who enjoy some spontaneous adventure and who like being part of
a team.
On the flip side,
those who join search and rescue need to realize that they can be called out
any time, day or night, and on weekends and holidays. As volunteers, we respond
when and if we're able, but some teams do have a required minimum number of
hours per year. Besides participating on missions, volunteers can do things
like help maintain equipment and vehicles and other non-mission projects.
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You can find out a
lot more about SAR on my webpage, Becoming A Search and RescueVolunteer. And if you're interested in reading my firsthand accounts of search and rescue missions, SAR trainings, and other search and rescue topics,
you can visit my blog, Deb's Search & Rescue Stories.
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