Can you test a stream to find out if a body is in the watershed somewhere? Like running dogs over water to test for scent but sampling each stream you cross then testing for a cadaver.

Do you have what it takes to be a DEC Forest Ranger? The mission of the Division of Forest Protection is to provide public safety and state land protection through expertise in wildland search, rescue, fire, law enforcement, and incident management throughout the State of New York. The Division protects five million acres of state-owned, department-managed lands and easements, as well as the people who use these lands.

Forest Rangers are sworn Police Officers authorized to enforce all state laws, with special emphasis on Environmental Conservation Law, the protection of state lands, and the public using state lands. Every Forest Ranger must successfully complete a rigorous 26-week Basic Training School before being assigned to a geographic area.

The first step toward becoming a Forest Ranger is successfully passing the Civil Service exam. The application deadline for this fall's exam is September 17, 2025. ➡️ Sign up for the entry level law enforcement exam today by visiting: https://www.cs.ny.gov/police/ ➡️ For more information about becoming a DEC Forest Ranger: https://dec.ny.gov/about/employment/explore-career-descriptions/forest-ranger-1

Looking for (preferably free) online courses to add new skills, improve existing skills, etc. Any area of SAR/ emergency management (we also do disaster response).

Any recommendations?

I don't know if we can share our own videos here but There is a video I recorded as a search and rescuer of the chaos that occurred during the Bursa, Türkiye forest fires. I tried adding subtitles in different languages, but I think the translation was very poor. I suggest you try the subtitle option.

I'm 41. I'm a medic and just got my BSN. I've been in the USMC for 22 years, so I'm decently in shape. Am I too old to join a hoist outfit? I work CCT now, so I know my way around flight medicine. I used to be a firefighter, so I know my way around ropes, rigging, and high angle rescue (or I did at one point).

In September of 2024, a Doctor hiking in the Cottian Alps of went missing. In July of 2025, his remains were located using Drones to map out hundreds of acres and AI powered Software such as the Automated Drone Image Analysis Tool (ADIAT) from TEXSAR to then scan through the thousands of photos to find his helmet and lead teams directly to his resting place.

Wired Article: https://www.wired.com/story/missing-hiker-ai-drone-recovery

CNSAS: https://www.cnsas.it/en/

ADIAT: https://www.texsar.org/automated-drone-image-analysis-tool/

Hey, just looking to chat about what might look good for a YOSAR application. I come from a fire dept family (am hoping to join my city's department depending on how my test score comes back) and as an avid climber I would love to bring that together to join the Yosemite team. I am a registered nurse, have an EMT license, first aid certified, and am starting an ER job soon to get more acute care experience, can comfortably climb 5.10 and higher, though do not have Yosemite climbing experience which I know isn't great for that. Just want some advice about what I should be doing between now and January when I send my application for next season.

I'm considering applying to my local Coastguard Search & Rescue station in the UK and have a few initial questions. I think there are a couple of CROs in the sub and I'd be grateful for any advice.

How does the booking on/off call system work and how much do you need to plan ahead? For example, if my wife suggests we take a day trip tomorrow and I haven't given X days notice I'll be unavailable, is that a problem?

I suspect my employer will be flexible and release me during the day if I make up the time - so long as it's an occasional occurrence. But they're not going to be happy with that being a very regular thing. How more/less common are call-outs during the day Mon-Fri than outside of those hours? Also, is there any way to say effectively "I can respond during the work day but only if you really need me"?

Evenings, nights, and weekends I'll generally be free whenever. Is that something a station is likely to accept, or will they expect full 24/7 availability?

What's a ballpark duration for a typical call? I read somewhere it's about 3 hours. Are significantly shorter/longer calls common?

Sorry if these seem naive questions. I spent a long time as a special constable, but can count on one hand the number of times I was called-in in an emergency as opposed to attended pre-arranged duties, so whilst I'm comfortable with a lot of aspects of emergency services volunteering, the "on-call" aspect is totally new to me.

I would think that drones are very helpful in finding missing people or people who have gotten themselves lost. How much are drones actually used? I would imagine they can cover a lot more ground than doing walking grid searches, etc.

I did some very cursory experiments with ChatGPT and search data (including CalTopo) for a search and recovery operation and I was surprised to see the results.

Note: I put as much detail as I could into the prompt but surely I was missing a lot of important information for this quick test.

I was immediately surprised with the LLMs knowledge about search theory. It asked some smart "High‑value clarifying questions" about the subject, clues, forensics, terrain, search history and even provided some provisional theories and tactics.

I noticed that, like a human, became fixated on some important clues. This was an old search so a lot of avenues were already pursued.

Before I put more effort into massaging the source data and improving the details in the prompt, I wanted to see if anyone has tried this already.

Disclaimer: I am not experienced in Search Theory but if the results become promising my plan is to take this to some more experienced folks on our team and neighboring teams for more experimentation.

I have a 14 month old Xolo who is the most driven dog I've ever encountered and has shown some serious promise in nosework. He's for sure an off breed but he scales mountains and rough terrain like it's nothing and has a serious knack for finding things you would never even know are there (mainly food and things he's not supposed to be getting into, lol). This dog is genuinely cracked out. Recently we spent 8 hours climbing a 4,000 footer and he probably hiked the mountain twice with how much he was running between the front of the group and the back. Got in the car and he probably would have been happy to go for a second hike.

I understand SAR training is difficult to get into and requires serious dedication. Both handler and dog need to be in good shape and the dog really needs to enjoy the work. I can not find trainers in my area who have experience with SAR, and my local SAR K9 group is exclusively for people who have already at least begun their training journey- there is very little support for newbies.

I'm looking for book recommendations to start owner training this guy. He has so much potential and beyond regular dog sports, I think he would excel having a practical job. He also has a lovely temperament, and I could see him being very comforting in scenarios where he finds injured individuals.

Any advice at all for getting into SAR dog training is welcome. Again, I understand that it's challenging and time-consuming. I understand it can be mentally taxing. I worked veterinary ER for a while and I am calm and collected in fast-paced, difficult, and urgent situations. I have experience with dog training in general, but scent work and tracking are brand new to me, and I have no clue where to start.

Thanks in advance!

Our rescue sqaud does SAR, Fast Water Rescue, Mountian Rescue ect. But we also do medical calls, support the fire department and work every serious car crash in the county. My job is mostly car crashes but I live in the Appalachian Mountians, so they are often off cliffs, steep embankments, in and around trees and other things you can bump your head on. I will occasionally do SAR, rope stuff but mostly I want to protect my brain bucket from dangerous environments in car accidents, collapsed structures (helene type events and mud slides). My duty is mostly at night after dark so mounting a head lamp or light system is important, hearing protection option and face sheild would be nice as well.

So I am currently doing my GCSE design technology work where it involves making a product with specific contexts, I have helping charities and decided to make a product for search and rescue charities. Part of my work involves getting opinions from people who are involved in this charity so I posted this to ask if anyone could please reply with any problems that they face in search and rescue.

I’m the director of a brand new search & rescue team with very minimal funding. As much as I would love to purchase Silva compasses for all my volunteers, there’s no way we can swing it just yet. Putting on an orienteering class at the end of the month. I’ve seen these all over Amazon and Temu. Any experience with these cheap alternatives? This will be ideally just for class and not for wilderness rescue.

Hi everyone,

I hope this is okay to ask. I’m in college and have been interested in SAR K9 teams since I was a kid. I’m not in a place to join right now because of the time and cost, but I’m hoping to in a few years.

Are there any ways I could volunteer with my local group in the meantime? I’m a photography student and happy to offer free photos of training sessions or events anytime.

For what it’s worth, I do have a Boston Terrier, but she’s more of a couch potato than a SAR dog. She actually just farted while I was typing this lol

I’m having a hard time figuring out how strong this is.

What would it be rated to in poundage?

Thank you ahead of time for the assistance.

I have a face tattoo. Is there any possible way I could have a career in forestry, SAR, campground management, firefighting, or ranger?

Im 31F, live in Missouri but plan to move next year. I have an Associates, nothing particular though. I currently own a pet grooming business.

Hi everyone,

I’ve put together a detailed video tutorial on a topic worth considering: the practical, responsible use of the Strava Global Heatmap for SAR analysis.

Instead of just saying "look at the bright lines," I wanted to create a proper workflow that can be integrated into search planning, from the Last Known Point (LKP) / Initial Planning Point (IPP) to assigning search segments. I believe it's a powerful, if often misunderstood, tool for clue generation and refining our Probability of Area (POA).

The video covers: * The Basics: Moving beyond the default view to filter for specific activities (hiker vs. runner makes a huge difference). * Core Analysis: A step-by-step process of identifying high-probability corridors, hunting for faint "desire lines" that aren't on official maps, and pinpointing key decision points. * Integrating with SAR Theory: How to use the heatmap as a conceptual multiplier (F_{Heatmap}) for your initial Probability of Area. * Critical Limitations: I made sure to include a big section on the dangers—the "absence of evidence" fallacy, activity bias, and how it can clash with lost person behavior

Greetings Emhance

I'd like to join one of my local SAR teams. However I'd like to know how this fits in with a full time job. Does your workplace have to make allowances for SAR volunteers? Do you go straight to work after a night call out or do you go and get some sleep first? I drive a lot for work so have concerns about about doing so tired.

Hey everyone, for kicks and giggles I finally got a TAK server running. I mostly made it due to my fondness of “prepping” - I wanted a way for my friends and I to organize and communicate in an emergency that didn’t depend on shared hardware. TAK seemed like the right move, because it has a lot of features pertinent to emergency ops planning.

A few of my friends on SAR (myself included) really like some of its capabilities for SAR. Although it’s not something currently integrated on the team I’m on, I cant help but scratch my head wondering who else is using this.

I know that for my area at least, CalTopo seems to be the default app for search planning, but it seems like some Colorado and California teams are using it? Seems like Wild Fire teams are taking it up too? It’s hard for me to tell. So I’m wondering how many of you guys are using TAK, and, how do you like it? If your team is using TAK, how do your iTAK devices function with your ATAK devices? Does the feature-set difference between the two cause problems? Are you utilizing GoTenna, Beartooth, or Meshtastic? How does that work for you compared to alternatives?

What kind of SWAG would you appreciate for attending a SAR event? We all have plenty of water bottles and t-shirts.