One of the questions on our SAR reporting form is whether the victim has a radio or cell phone. If they do have a radio we ask for the channel or freq if it’s known.

With the equipment we have on hand, we can only monitor FRS/GMRS, 2 meter ham radio, and 136-174 mHz VHF band. Cell phone “pinging” would have to come from the phone company. Some of the larger surrounding SAR teams have COMM units that may have wider monitoring capabilities.