SARtalk is about Search and Rescue from the perspective of a volunteer who is still learning, training, and gaining experience in the field.
I joined my local Search and Rescue team in 2022. I wasn’t looking for excitement or adventure as much as I was looking for a tangible way to serve my community, get to know the people around me, and work alongside others who wanted to do the same.
Since joining, I’ve had the opportunity to serve in several different roles. I’m a quartermaster, technical ropes team associate, swiftwater technician, and alpine team member. I’ve participated in general searches, swiftwater and alpine missions, technical rope operations, and searches working as a flanker alongside K-9 handlers.
One of the things I’ve learned is that Search and Rescue isn’t nearly as exciting most of the time as it might look from the outside—and that’s a good thing.
There is a lot of training. There are mundane jobs that need to be done. Equipment has to be maintained, vehicles need to be ready, skills need to be practiced, and volunteers put in a tremendous amount of preparation so that when someone’s worst day happens, a team is ready to respond 24 hours a day.
I’ve also learned that many people don’t know much about Search and Rescue until they need it. One important example is that people sometimes hesitate to call for help because they’re worried about what a rescue might cost them. In many places, including where I volunteer, SAR teams are made up largely of volunteers and subjects are not charged by the SAR team for the rescue. Policies and circumstances vary by location, so you should never hesitate to contact local emergency services when you genuinely need help.
Why I Started SARtalk
I started SARtalk to share my experience of joining and serving in Search and Rescue.
I’m not a career rescuer, and I don’t consider myself an expert. I’m still learning—and expect I always will be.
What I can share is what I’ve experienced along the way: the training, equipment, fitness, technology, skills, preparation, missions, mistakes, lessons learned, and the less glamorous work that goes into keeping a SAR team ready.
SAR teams operate differently depending on their location, terrain, leadership, available resources, and local agencies. What works for my team won’t necessarily be the way another team operates. The information on SARtalk should be viewed through that lens: this is my experience, not the only way to do Search and Rescue.
Who SARtalk Is For
SARtalk is primarily for two groups of people.
The first is the general public. I want people who spend time outdoors—or who are simply curious about SAR—to better understand what happens when someone needs help in the backcountry, how Search and Rescue works, and what they can do to make themselves safer.
The second is anyone thinking about volunteering.
When I was considering joining SAR, I wanted to understand what I was actually signing up for. What kind of training would I need? How fit should I be? What equipment would I need? What would missions be like? How much time would it require?
SARtalk is a place where I can share what I’ve learned while answering those kinds of questions for the next person.
We’ll talk about just about anything related to Search and Rescue: training, fitness, gear, navigation, technology, technical rescue, backcountry safety, team operations, and lessons learned along the way.
If you leave SARtalk a little more knowledgeable about Search and Rescue than when you arrived, then the site is doing what I created it to do.
