Starting a SAR team?

[jh504]

Hey folks, I am interested in hearing from anyone who has experience with Sheriff Dept based SAR teams. My County Dept has three dogs trained in human tracking and are the first ones called out in a lost person scenario. However there is no organized SAR team in the area. One of the Deputies and his canine partner were recently responsible for finding an elderly man lost in the woods, but they were acting alone without any other help. I have been thinking about taking a proposal to the Sheriff about an organized volunteer SAR team managed by the Sheriff's Dept. Sheriff based SAR teams are not very prevalent around here and I would like to hear some advice from some folks out West where this is more common.

[SunTzuNephew]

It can be done.

Who is legally responsible (or authorized) to conduct SAR operations in NC? They're the one that needs to sign off on it. Liability is an issue too, and there is a question over who is going to do what - SAR, extreme conditions LE (rapelling down a sink hole for a body?), etc. Funding is an issue, too.

The NASAR SAR TECH training is a good place to start. Several guys in NC I know are (were) highly involved, both at the State level and with NASAR.

[stonehenge]

I used to work for the RIMSAR team here in SoCal and one of the major issues was funding the others were who will ultimately be responsible if the rescue goes sideways? The typical SAR volunteer was a reserve deputy so he/she fell under the purview of the local LEA.

We also had problems when SAR volunteers wanted to use their POV for SAR duty and what/who would be responsible if damage occurred either to the vehicle or property it was being used on. Because we live in such a litigious society i would have those answers and more when putting a proposal together. I was in charge of SVO for my SAR team and handled all donation requests for vehicles and sponsorships or products for said vehicles. I would be happy to provide advice and insight on what i think will be an ambitious project, however this open forum would not be the best place for that. feel free to contact me via pm and i will give you my contact info.

best of luck with your idea, you will be helping a lot of people you havent met yet.

[jh504]

As far as who is authorized to conduct operations in NC, it seems to be done many different ways. Some fire departments and rescue squads, some volunteer SAR teams, some sheriff's departments, it seems to vary widely. I guess I need to talk to NCSAR advisory council about that. NASAR seems to be the standard for land search training in NC.

The Sheriff's Dept will definitely have an issue with funding. Thats why I was thinking of a volunteer team who could fund raise for themselves but be under the direction of the department, since they have the dogs and already are responding to these kinds of incidents.

stonehenge: PM sent.

[RPDjeep]

You may want to check into the R.E.D.S team based in Garner.

[Ghostship]

What you are proposing is a huge undertaking. It is needed, and it certainly can be done. You need to establish a detailed organizational plan that covers the functional categories that make up a SAR team.

Trainging: standardized (NASAR, NFPA, ASTM), levels from basic awareness to advanced search management, and you need a source of instruction

Standard Operating Procedures: you need to decide how the team should be organizationally structured both functionally in the field (using the ICS) as well as administratively. The SOP details both of these, as well as the do's and don'ts, establishes the legal basis for the team, who it reports to, and who is responsible for it.

Call Out system: Who gets called out, when, by who, under what circumstances

Paperwork: You need a complete set of forms for documenting every freakin' thing that happens on a serach call out as well as documenting training - this is what protects you in court.

Emergency Communications: how will you get notified of a search, what comms will you use in the field, etc. You might want to partner with the local RACES group for help here.

There is so much more....

Rather than starting from scratch, I would suggest using already established volunteer groups to at least get the SAR team up and running. There is a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) active in your county. This is the place to start. Talk to the Sheriff, county Emergency Manager, and who ever is in charge of the CERT team, and inquire if they would like to add Ground Search and Rescue as part of their response capbilities. CERTs have already had background checks and usually have personal protective equipment so they will arrive on scene dressed for the environment; this saves you some steps. CERTs are funded by DHS grants, and many counties complain of not knowing how to keep their volunteers busy enough...this is their answer, just get them trained in SAR.

Take advantage of local assets, there may be groups in neighboring counties that can help. One of the countries leading SAR minds is north of you in Virginia, Robert Koester, the authority on Lost Person Behavioral Profiling. Get with NASAR, and see what instructors are available in your area.

Lastly, I'm willing to help. I can email you our SOP with training matrix, ICS and organization charts. You can copy directly swapping your team's name, or change it as you and the local officials see fit. I am also willing to come out to teach. Once you get a group of willing participants together, I can do an awareness + operations level training with practical exercise, as well as search manager level training with lost person behavior.

Grabbing a tiger by the tail can be fantastically rewarding or a complete nightmare (depending on if you're Siegfried or Roy). Let me know if you have any questions.

Michael Corbin
Director
Tri-County Search and Rescue
TriCountySAR@Live.com

[jh504]

Great information folks. The REDS team down in Raleigh is a great team. I have talked with them about training before.

There is an established population of volunteers in the county through the local fire departments. Every fire department in the county is volunteer based, save one. I think that a lot of these folks would be interested in getting involved in something like this. Michael, I would love to take a look at your SOPs.

[khaywood]

I am a member of the San Diego County Sheriff's Search and Rescue detail. Ours is an entirely volunteer staff that is headed by a fulltime Sergeant. The organization is part of the department's Emergency Services Division. We have about 125 members in our SAR organization. About 20 are Reserve Deputies. Members, including the deputies, that have completed our academy are considered "field qualified". All others are classified as civilian volunteers (CV). CVs are restricted to non-field activities such as comms and the like.

The SAR detail is made up of several specialized units. Those are Tactical Search, Technical Rescue, Medical, Mounted, Motorized, Communications, Training and K9.

In application, fielded teams are often made up of members from various units. As the fundamental training is the same for all of us, if we really just need "boots on the ground" then anyone can be assigned. For instance, I am a member of the Motorized Unit. More often than not we have no need for all of the 4x4's that are available. I spend more time on foot than in my truck.

If you want more details feel free to contact me off the forum.

[AxeAngel]

Cary fire dept runs a CERT class

When you get it up and running, add me to your volunteer list.

-Sam