Hello!<br><br>I have a rather unusual question for you guys! As Im into the second year of my nurse-education, there is an opening for us to go abroad for a few weeks of studies next (last) year, to make a report on how things are done in other places. Im having an idea about checking out US Search and Rescue and/or Wilderness medicine, since its very low profile over here in Sweden. Do you know anywhere to turn (oranization, teams or similar) and possibly who I can talk to? Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Our school has good conections in Florida (Tampa) and East Tennesee State. But anywhere else is ok! Replies, ideas, do´s and don´ts and are welcome directly to me at:vsk0h26@student.vbg.htu.se<br><br><br>Regards!<br>Stefan, Sweden

I would suggest you use google.com and search for WILDERNESS EMT. There are a couple of schools around, one in Pennsylvania that teach wilderness medicine. They require a basic EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) or Paramedic certification and then teach you ways to implement standard emergency medicine in a wilderness environ. They may have a list of past students or teams that they may suggest you contact.<br><br>Most US SAR are volunteer and the levels of medical skill varies widely from a 1 day CPR class, 40 basic first aid (First Responder), up through basic EMT (110 hours) and Paramedic (2000 hrs). This is all non-wilderness based medical training. Some people additionally take the wilderness EMT/Paramedic class. <br><br>Most of the paid wilderness SAR teams are in the western part of the US and are usually run by law enforcement, typically the Sherrif's office. Paid personnel are ususally required to meet minimum standards of training while volunteer organizations tend to have a lower level of certification as a team standard. Most paid SAR is going to be at least EMT or Paramedic while volunteer teams usually require only CPR and/or First Responder.<br><br>You might also want to contact NASAR, National Association of Search And Rescue. They promote SAR training and standards. Most of their programs and training are search skills with only a passing mention of wilderness medicine. But many individuals and teams nationwide are members so they may be able to direct you to teams that are particularly active or have extrodinary training programs.<br><br>My volunteer SAR team operates in mostly semi-urban to rural environments. We train for wilderness operations but there are limited true wilderness in our area. All our team members are min. EMT and we have several Paramedics. We have not taken any wilderness medical training. Our wilderness training includes map & compass and survival training. We added a K9 unit to the team about a year ago and that is changing how we think about searching for lost subjects. The dog handlers have to provide first aid for their canines as well as the lost subject.