Looking for Info on Search & Rescue

[mtbdarby]

I am contimplating a major career change and 2 fields interest me greatly:
search and rescue and emergency management.

I was wondering if anyone on this vast forum is involved with either and would be willing to chat or point me in the direction of some information.

The SAR interest is dog related - I would like a career working with a dog and being outside. I know most of the positions are volunteer but I'm hoping the training to qualify me would be what would pay the bills (emergency management, paramedic, etc.).

I have been planning a move closer to my ex so my son can spend more time with him. I have lost one dog this year and the remaining is old and will always be a pet. I don't necessarily have to train a dog from a pup upward and would probably prefer to be placed with a trained dog. So I'm hoping to live in the Madison/Milwaukee area. I have already researched sites in WI but was hoping someone here is in the field that would have some practical experience to share.

This is not a for sure thing because I'm a single parent. I want to know the reality of the lifestyle in doing this, the training and requirements, stress factors, income, job satisfaction.

Thanks for your help!

[sundial]

Hi Dar,

Here's a forum with members who are active in SAR, Therapy, and Service Dogs. Granted it's a forum for german shepherd fanciers, but it offers great information here. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page and you'll see it listed under Working Dogs:

www.germanshepherds.com

I know SAR takes a really dedicated individual and you'll need to train most weekends. Also, you will need to consider that if you chose to be in SAR, you may get called out at any time, in any weather conditions, and you may have to foot the expense of travel on your own.

Good luck and let me know if I can help you with anything else,
Cathy

[tygab]

Land based:
I was on a Massachusetts SAR team (volunteer) for a while, and we were an accessory arm to the State Police. All the paid positions were in the PD (or local PD/Fire). There are always people (volunteers) who think their dogs are "made" for it when in reality most pet dogs are not cut out for the work. So, I agree with your thoughts of finding a dog that has already been trained and working on that team.

Urban SAR/confined SAR is very different from outdoors SAR (which is what we did). We were expected to have a 24hr backpack ready to go at all times, and we could be put anywhere they wanted us. All the volunteers had criminal background checks performed, and we had to complete landnav, Incident Command, and SAR II training before becoming full team members. There is a lot of hurry up and wait, because at an incident there is a lot of assessing that goes on before teams get deployed. There are generally two types of searches used at least around here. 1. Hasty - small teams (often the dog teams) that follow a particular path/trail based on likely whereabouts, and 2. line/grid where a whole bunch of people will sweep search an area in a specific pattern for anything. These are slow, time consuming searches, covering whatever is there, meaning swampy, prickerbush, thickets etc are all fair game. What fun! Oh, and at least around here, untrained volunteers are not typically welcomed at searches, because even though people often want to help and mean well, it is not what most think it is. The hasty teams are often the K9 (professional, police officer) dog teams.

Water (for the heck of it):
I was also in the USCG Aux and got SAR training as I worked out of a small boat station and on active patrols in Boston Harbor. This also required knowing incident command. SAR on the water means going in a particular pattern over a particular area - the pattern is decided by the command based on weather, tides, visability etc. Sometimes we'd have helo or fixed wing aircraft overhead as well. The challenge here is it is very tiresome looking closely at water for small objects for potentially hours on end, out in whatever weather. No dogs here, but I learned a great deal from this as well.

For both of these I maintained either an EMT or First Responder cert (later adding a Wilderness First Aid cert). My .02, go through a EMT program, get a W (wilderness) designation to become a W-EMT as well, and then pursue the SAR side. Having the med credentials helps open a lot of doors.

Here are a few good sites to check out:
FEMA (for the ICS training info)
http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/index.shtm

NASAR
http://www.nasar.org/nasar/course_schedule.php

and your state's EMS web site.

Edit: And yes, I want to add that doing this is very time consuming. All of these creds require ongoing training to maintain. Which is the main reason I am no longer involved. Maybe someday in the future. It's saddening to know I once had all of these credentials, but I did this all when I had a lot more time on many levels than I do now. Having always had this interest, as a career it always seemed intriguing, but, I didn't see a lot of long term financial opportunity. For example, you can make a little more as an instructor, but even on that salary, it'd be hard to live in this area.

[bmccasland]

mtbdarby - if you can handle stressed people, bad weather, and lousy long hours, then SAR can be quite interesting. Amazing how many searches start on sunday afternoon. I worked for the Forest Service in a recreation area and just when we'd think about going home on sunday, someone would call about son/daughter/friend not coming back from their hike/climb/dirt bike ride. Usually wasn't dull. Although the SWAT team on a search at night in their black camo gear was an interesting twist.

[mimitabby]

Dar
my son wanted to be a part of SAR but could not because he was a student and the schedule was too unpredictable. Having a small child would make a job like that (if you could find one that paid) rather difficult. You'd need 24 hour day care because you can't stop a search at 5pm because you have to go home. Maybe you should train to be an EMT?
or you could start training dogs for SAR?

[mtbdarby]

Tygab, thanks for the info - I had already checked out those sites. I just let my first responder cert lapse because I never used it but they're always looking for emt's around here.


Cathy - the dog link looks cool, I'll check that out as well.

Beth - I'm single so the weekends and hours don't bother me. I desparately need to find something I am passionate about for a career for it to be satisfying for me.

Mimi - I am obviously aware I have a young son I can't just disappear on. That's why I'm researching this now, because I know I'd need training and perhaps even a different degree or experience to get there if I choose this route. Emergency management is now a 4 year degree! But I also strongly feel this is a growing field and I have the talent to handle these situations. What I'm lacking are the specific skills. And once his dad and l live near each other again it won't be a problem making sure he's being taken care of.

Anyone with any info on the emergency management part of it?

[xeney]

Mtdarby, my sister does SAR and is now a dog trainer. I will PM you with her website info.

[Irulan]

you might start by volunteering. Most SAR folks around here are volunteers, not paid.