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Setting Up a Search & Rescue Team

For volunteer SAR teams — ground, mountain, K9, technical rope, swiftwater, cave, drone — that are paged by a sheriff, park service or coordination centre and deploy for hours or days. The emphasis is on dispatching by capability (roles), maps, availability polling and mission records.

1 — Department settings​

SettingValue
Disable auto-availableOn (members should not drift back to Available automatically).
Staffing resetOff — availability is set deliberately.
Mapping settingsPersonnel and unit location TTL 240–480 minutes (field teams report rarely).
New Call form fieldsShow what3words and coordinates; make location required.
ModulesShifts off (unless you run an on-call rota); Inventory, Checklists, Records, Calendar, Trainings on.

2 — Types​

TypeValues
Unit typesGround team, K9 team, Technical team, Swiftwater team, UTV/ATV, Drone, Command post, Vehicle.
Call typesMissing person, Overdue hiker, Injured hiker / rescue, Recovery, Evidence search, Mutual aid, Training / exercise, Standby (event).
Call prioritiesUrgent (immediate response, full alert), Standard (respond within the hour), Planned (scheduled search / training).
Certification typesSARTECH II/III, Wilderness first aid / WFR, Rope technician, Swiftwater, K9 certification, Avalanche, Drone pilot (Part 107), ICS 100/200/700.

3 — Groups, roles, statuses​

  • Station: the cache / meeting point (with address). Organisational groups: Ground, Technical, K9, Support/Logistics, Command.
  • Roles (what you dispatch by): Ground searcher, Team leader, K9 handler, Rope tech, Swiftwater, Medical (WFR+), Drone pilot, Radio operator, Incident commander, Logistics.
  • Custom statuses: personnel — Available · Responding to CP · At command post · Deployed in field · Returning · Not available; staffing — Available this week · Limited · Unavailable · Deployed elsewhere. Units (Team) — Staging · Assigned · Searching · Subject located · Returning.

4 — Personnel and units​

  • Invite members; ask for verified email + mobile, home address (for ETA to the trailhead) and the Responder app.
  • Certifications with expiry drive who may be dispatched to technical roles.
  • Units are your teams (Team Alpha … with roles Team leader, Navigator, Medic, Searcher ×4) and vehicles (UTVs, command trailer). Staff teams at the CP from the Unit app.

5 — Dispatch​

  • Callouts arrive by SMS or email from the sheriff — set up email import (Generic format) or text-to-call; or the duty officer creates the call in the Dispatch app.
  • Dispatch to roles, not groups: Missing person → Ground searcher + Team leader + K9 handler; Rescue → Rope tech + Medical.
  • Run cards: Missing person (Urgent + Missing person): Team leader ×1, Ground searcher ×6, K9 team ×1; manual selection mode (people choose to respond).
  • Messages with responses for availability polls: Available for a callout starting 06:00 tomorrow? Yes / No / Later.
  • Check-in timers: Sector rotation 2 h per field team.

6 — Mapping​

  • Layers: trail systems, land ownership, search segments exported from CalTopo/SARTopo (GeoJSON/KML), cell coverage.
  • POI types: trailheads, huts, helispots, water sources, gates.
  • Custom maps: raster tiles of your operating area for offline use; region maps for segments with POA.
  • Consider hardware trackers on UTVs and the command trailer.

7 — Records (SAR pack)​

Enable Records and create definitions from the SAR Mission Pack: SAR Mission Summary, SAR Segment Debrief (coverage / POD), SAR Clue Report (restricted). Add Exercise / AAR for trainings and ICS 214 from the Incident Support pack for personal activity logs. Preset Review required with the operations chief as reviewer. Capture unit tracking fixes and incident chat as evidence on the mission summary.

8 — Readiness​

  • Checklists: Personal 24-hour pack (Personnel target, monthly, self-run), Team cache inventory (Group, quarterly), UTV pre-trip (Unit), Rope kit inspection (Serialized equipment, annual, witness).
  • Inventory: team cache as a facility with containers; ropes, hardware, GPS units, radios and PLBs as serialized assets with retirement dates as expiry; issue personal gear to members with expected return.
  • Calendar: trainings with sign-up sheets, fitness sessions, debriefs.
  • Trainings: navigation, radio, ICS refreshers with quizzes for probationary members.

9 — Communication​

  • Chat channels per team; the incident channel is automatic per callout; urgent messages for recall.
  • Notifications: Team leader availability < 2 → coordinator.
  • Workflows: Call created → email the sheriff's dispatch a confirmation; Message sent (poll) → webhook to a roster sheet.
  • Voice: PTT channels per team where radio coverage is poor.

First-week checklist​

  • Roles match your capability matrix; certifications entered
  • Custom statuses reflect CP → field → return flow
  • Test callout by SMS import received by all
  • Search-area layers loaded on the map and in Responder
  • SAR Mission Summary definition published; a training mission recorded end-to-end