Search and rescue in the United States involves a wide range of organizations that have

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

responsibilities. In January 2008, the

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

(DHS) released the National Response Framework (NRF) which serves as the guiding document for a federal response during a national emergency. In addition to the NRF there are 15 annexes relating to Emergency Support Functions (ESF) which includes other federal agencies that contain resources or expertise to support an emergency. Search and Rescue is included as ESF-9 and divides SAR into four primary elements while assigning a federal agency with the lead role for each of the four elements. * Structural Collapse-USAR:

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...

* Waterborne:

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

United States Coast Guard Auxiliary The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGA, USCGAUX, CGAux, or USCG Aux) is the civilian uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Congress established the military organization, unit on 23 June 1939, as the United Sta ...

* Inland-wilderness:

United States Department of Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

* Aeronautical:

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

Rescue Coordination Center A rescue co-ordination centre (RCC) is a primary search and rescue facility in a country that is staffed by supervisory personnel and equipped for co-ordinating and controlling search and rescue operations. RCCs are responsible for a geographic are ...

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded mem ...

Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service The United States Air Force Combat Rescue School (for most of its existence, either Air Rescue Service or Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service), was an organization of the United States Air Force. The school was established in 1946 as ''Air ...

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

(secondary missions for helicopter squadrons) In the U.S., SAR standards are developed primarily by

ASTM International ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, ...

and the

National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. As of 2018, the NFPA claims to have 50,000 mem ...

(NFPA) which are then used by organizations such as the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA), the National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR), and the NFPA to develop training that will meet or exceed those standards. Within ASTM International, most standards of relevance to SAR are developed by Committee F32 on Search and Rescue. Formed in 1988, the committee had 85 current members and jurisdiction of 38 approved standards.

National organizations

Explorer Search and Rescue Explorer Search and Rescue (ESAR) are teams of Explorers in the Learning for Life program of the Boy Scouts of America who are trained and deployed for search and rescue missions. Well-developed ESAR programs emerged in the state of Washington in t ...

Mountain Rescue Association In the United States, mountain rescue is handled by professional teams within some national parks and by volunteer teams elsewhere. Volunteer teams are often members of the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA). Under the National Incident Management ...

National Association for Search and Rescue The National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) has been in existence since 1972. Originally started to represent the State Search and Rescue Coordinators, NASAR grew to represent all SAR volunteers and continues to support the State Search ...

* National Association of Volunteer Search and Rescue Teams *United States Search And Rescue Task Force

State organizations

;Alabama * Alabama Association of Rescue Squads *Alabama Search and Rescue * Red Mountain Search Dog Association ;California * San Luis Obispo County Search and Rescue * Bay Area Search and Rescue Council * Marin County Sheriff's Office Search & Rescue * San Mateo County Search and Rescue * Long Beach Search & Rescue * San Diego Mountain Rescue Team * Montrose Search and Rescue Team * Altadena Mountain Rescue Team * Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team * Antelope Valley Search and Rescue * Malibu Search and Rescue Team * Santa Clarita Valley Search and Rescue Team * San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team ;Colorado * Arapahoe Rescue Patrol * Rampart Search and Rescue * Mesa County Search and Rescue ;Florida * Brothers to the Rescue ;Maryland * Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police ;Michigan * Michigan Search and Rescue * K-9 ONE Search and Rescue ;Missouri * Urban Search and Rescue Missouri Task Force 1 ;New Jersey * Urban Search and Rescue New Jersey Task Force 1 * New Jersey Search and Rescue ;New Mexico * New Mexico Search and Rescue Council ;New York * Urban Search and Rescue New York Task Force 1 * Westchester County Technical Rescue Team * New York Search And Rescue - Serving the Lower Hudson Valley * Long Island Search and Rescue - Primarily serving Suffolk and Nassau Counties * New York State Federation of Search and Rescue Teams - Statewide listing of SAR teams * Lower Adirondack Search and Rescue - Serving all of New York State - Primarily the Adirondack Region wilderness ;North Carolina * NCCERT (North Carolina Canine Emergency Response Team) ;Ohio * Rapid Assistance to Community Emergencies - Search and Rescue ;Oregon *

Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue (MCSO SAR) is a non-profit volunteer search and rescue resource for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. The agency also offers its 3,000-5,000 hours ...

*North Oregon Regional Search and Rescue * Portland Mountain Rescue ;Pennsylvania * East Penn Search and Rescue ;Virginia Virginia benefits from a state-coordinated system of training and response under the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM). Under Title 44 of the Code of Virginia, VDEM develops and maintains the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan (COVEOP) that includes the ESF-9 Annex for Search and Rescue. Similar to the federal version of ESF-9 under the National Response Framework (NRF), VDEM divides SAR into four primary elements. While VDEM functions as the lead for ESF-9, many agencies, departments, and volunteer organizations routinely responds to and supports SAR operations in the Commonwealth of Virginia. ;Washington * Washington State Search and Rescue Volunteer Advisory Council * Jefferson County Search and Rescue * King County Search and Rescue Association * Seattle Mountain Rescue * Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue * Spokane County Search and Rescue * Pierce County Search and Rescue Council * Washington Air Search and Rescue

Aeronautical

Search and rescue services for downed, missing, or overdue aircraft and

Emergency Locator Transmitter An Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) is a type of emergency locator beacon for commercial and recreational boats, a portable, battery-powered radio transmitter used in emergencies to locate boaters in distress and in need of ...

s (ELTs). Organizations include: *

* Virginia State Police, Aviation Division

Inland/Wilderness

For search and rescue of lost and missing persons in a wide variety of circumstances and environments, resources include: * Amherst County Search and Rescue * Appalachian Professional Tracking Group * Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference * Black Diamond Search and Rescue Council * Blue and Gray Search and Rescue Dogs * Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group * DOGS-East Search and Rescue * Greater Atlantic Rescue Dogs * Jefferson County Search Dog Association * K-9 Alert Search and Rescue * Piedmont Search and Rescue * Search and Rescue Dogs of Maryland * Southwest Virginia Mountain Rescue Group * Tidewater Search and Rescue

Maritime/Waterborne

Providing search and rescue for vessels in distress in coastal and inland waters, resources include: *

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Virginia that regulates wildlife conservation. History The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries was created on June 17, 1916, under t ...

Virginia Marine Resources Commission The Virginia Marine Resources Commission is a state agency charged with overseeing Virginia's marine and aquatic resources, and its tidal waters and homelands. One of the primary functions of the Commission is to zone water areas for outdoor sw ...

* Smith Point Volunteer Sea Rescue *

Eckerd College Search and Rescue Eckerd College Search and Rescue (EC-SAR) is a student volunteer maritime search and rescue team. EC-SAR provides its services free of charge to the St. Petersburg / Tampa Bay area of Florida, from its station on the Eckerd College campus. EC- ...

USAR/Disaster

To provide response in the event of collapsed structures and significant events, organizations include: * Maryland Task Force 1 * Virginia Task Force 1 * Virginia Task Force 2

References

External links

{{Commons category, Search and rescue in the United States
National Association for Search and Rescue
Rescue Emergency services in the United States