I live in South Central Pennsylvania and I am quite interested in becoming involved in SAR. Can anyone provide any information on entry-level involvement in a SAR Team. I would appreciate any direction provided. Thanks.

I cannot speak for your area with complete accuracy, but here where I live (Idaho) and in Northern Nevada and Utah you must join the Sheriff’s Department sponsored SAR team. The one exception I am currently aware of is the Mt. Search and Rescue organization. You should find some information on their web page under the heading “how to join.” After you make application you may need to be involved in a preset number of training and meetings before formal acceptance into the organization is allowed. This is a common test to see if you are really what the organization is looking for and if you really want to belong. During this time be expected to do a lot of “grunt labor.” All is not bad though, as this is just a hands on pre-qualification test.

Some of the areas of specific skills will be:
Searching technique in all weather conditions
First Aid and CPR
Communications (HAM radio) and logistics
Rappelling
Base camp staff (cooks, sleep arraignments, crew rotation)
Helicopter rescue

Check your local sheriff’s department to see if they have a SAR team.

Check out this web page:

http://www.nasar.org/

You may try: http://www.psarc.org/

Ted Fisher
VCSAR Coordinator

Try contacting the local Sheriff's office or the Office of Emergency Management. Either should be able to tell you who the teams in your area are and give you a conatct point.

It varies across the country. In my area, techincally the Sheriff's office is in charge. They typically send an officer for representation. That person stays in the command post and works with others to direct the search efforts. There are several ground and dog teams in our area. The teams get called by the Agency of Jurisdiction which could be local town, city or county law enforcement.

County Emergency Management frequenty responds and helps out in command. The local fire department typically is also called for ground search regardless of their search training.

Civil Air Patrol is involved in search in some areas and may be another avenue to get involved.