r/searchandrescue

Hello to the fellow SAR community. I’ve been active for over a year now on calls, and I have been on ones where people have sadly died but I’ve never actually been near it.

Context I live in a very small costal community (the type where everyone knows everyone) few weeks ago we had a call to someone threatening to jump off a cliff, 20 year old lad. Other services helped to talk him down and no rescue was required.

A few nights ago the same person jumped, we went to it, he survived and we got him back to the top (he was not in a good state, but miraculously was still alive and partially conscious) and into ambulance service care. As we stretcher carried him away I couldn’t help but wonder what hell on earth it’s gonna be for him or if he’ll ever recover fully.

I will state overtly I have plenty of support and access to a wealth of mental health resources both within our agency and out. So that’s not what I’m looking for. But would appreciate any thoughts and perspectives from other SAR personnel when dealing with trauma type incidents.

This was written by a former vice president of NYSFEDSAR. The tl;dr is a combination of highly proficient full-time SAR resources, in this case the NYS Forest Rangers, and a significant decline in unknown location searches (driven primarily by technology like InReaches and cell phone pings) has resulted in volunteer teams rarely being called out, and people are dropping from those teams due to the lack of action, which in turn is lowering training quality and standards.

I recently relocated from California to New York and have been trying to stay informed in case I want to get back into SAR. On my rural NorCal team, we were led by a small number of sheriff's deputies for whom SAR was a collateral responsibility in addition to their full-time law enforcement duties. As such, they were pretty quick to activate us if it became clear that a search was not going to wrap up in a couple hours. Even so, I considered us a mid-to-low call volume team with about 15 callouts per year. However, SARNAK, which appears to be one of the most active upstate NY teams, recently posted about having a total of 3 searches in 2025, so I think this writer might be on to something.

I volunteer for a team that’s around 30 years old. I just started here (I’ve been on other teams before though) and notice a gross lack of commitment of the team along with online presence. It doesn’t seem like agencies know we exist despite working with our sheriffs department that entire time. It’s gotten to the point that I’m thinking of leaving because of it, but I’d like to at least try and breathe some new life into the team before I call it quits.

The online presence is almost non-existent, so I’ve gotten access to the Facebook page and now post three times a week, roughly at the same time each time, with either trainings/callouts (we’ve only had one since March! Not that’s that’s necessarily a bad thing though) or content I’ve made that’s outdoors/search and rescue related. Our analytics have increased by roughly 150% across the board, which gives me hope. Although if someone has any pointers for that, I’d be very happy to see them!

On to the more serious issue however, the team commitment is practically zero. The only people showing up are me and the other two new guys. People don’t come to trainings or events. We often do medical, or rather I do medical, for our county events like the fair or pride fest. Is there anyway to start building that culture back up? Don’t get me wrong, I love the other two new guys, but when I see a team roster of +70 and have only met maybe 10 people in total the 8 months I’ve been volunteering with them, it’s a little disheartening. I know it shouldn’t be up to the new guys to fix everything, but it seems like that’s the only support our team has right now.

Any advice is welcome. I’d like to at least say I tried. We are based in the Western US

From SAR's perspective, would you rather be dealing with one rather than the other?

Wondering if anyone knows of any USAR teams or similar opportunities within the Uniformed DOD. I'm a full time firefighter on a local tech team looking to get out of the Infantry (reserves) but continue serving in a capacity I am passionate about. Thanks in advance

Hey all, looking for some advice on getting onto a SAR/Ski Patrol or other rescue team.

My background:

• 29 years old
• 4 years ski patrol (Advanced Patroller/EMT)
• 2 years rural ambulance EMT experience  
• Low-angle rope rescue + some high-angle training
• Experience with pro-longed patient care from mountain to ambulance to hospital
• Public Snow Safety Education with non profit
• CPR/First Aid Instructor
• CPR/First Aid Training business owner
• Planning to get my Paramedic eventually
• Living in a ski town with SAR and multiple patrols
• Love being outdoors and in the backcountry for extended periods

Physically, I’m 6’6”, 230, and comfortable moving with a 70lb pack in rough terrain.

I’ve been applying and reaching out, but keep getting turned down. A lot of it seems to come down to not knowing the right people.

For those already in SAR or on other rescue teams:

• What would my next best step be?
• More rope/tech rescue certs?
• Get my medic first?
• Focus on networking and local involvement? Around me is seems like SAR and Ski Patrol are hiring people without any experience, yet I can't get hired or an interview.

I feel like I have a solid base, just trying to figure out what’s missing. Appreciate any advice.