Cover photo by Trevin Montano of Boulder Emergency Squad
What’s the number one inquiry that comes to the Colorado Search and Rescue Association’s in-box? “I want to join a team, can you tell me how?” The calls, emails and social media messages are so frequent that we have an auto-responder to address them.
If you’re interested in joining a backcountry search and rescue (BSAR) team, here are a few things you should be aware of:
- CSAR does not recruit for any of the teams in Colorado, and we ourselves are not a fielding agency. The roughly 50 fielding teams in Colorado all recruit for themselves, and they each have different processes.
- Almost no one is paid for BSAR in Colorado. The only exceptions are a small handful of rescuers employed by national parks, and a few law enforcement officers working for sheriff’s offices that have BSAR as part of their duties. Not only that, but most BSAR volunteers pay out of pocket for their personal equipment, vehicle expenses to respond to calls, and even team membership dues in some cases.
- Backcountry search and rescue is team-based. If you’re looking for somewhere to be a hero, please look elsewhere. You can read more about this here.
- Most teams, with a few exceptions, require you to live in the county they serve.
- The glamorous-looking rescue you’ve seen on TV involving technical teams and helicopters is the exception rather than the rule. In reality, the training schedule can be demanding, rescues can be intensive, and searches can be many hours to days long. In the words of Routt County Search and Rescue, you need to “have a desire to drop everything and go help a stranger having a bad time in the middle of the woods at a moment’s notice, and it will probably be off trail, at night, very cold, and raining or snowing!”
While CSAR cannot put you on a team, we can tell you a few things that might help you join a team. Generally speaking, the busier teams along the Front Range and the I-70 corridor have an easy time finding volunteer members because they have larger local populations to draw from, and in fact, some of them are very competitive to join. Just to list a few examples, if you want to become a field rescuer with Rocky Mountain Rescue Group in Boulder, Summit County Rescue Group, El Paso County Search and Rescue, Mountain Rescue Aspen, or Alpine Rescue Team in Clear Creek, Jefferson and Gilpin counties, you will be looking at process that takes months, only happens every two to three years, and only chooses a handful of candidates out of many applicants to join their new member training programs. For most of these busier teams, you must also live full-time in the team’s response area to be considered.
Many teams, both big and small, have associate or auxiliary membership categories you might consider. One of the greatest challenges in the BSAR world is that teams of volunteers must do all their own management and administrative work, ranging from bookkeeping to fundraising to equipment maintenance to managing public education. Volunteers are already juggling their rescue duties with their day jobs and family responsibilities, so the administrative work can add up to be too much. If you have relevant skills and the willingness to volunteer them, check the website of your local team to see if they have an associate member program. Need help finding your local team? Here is a directory.
Teams located in more rural areas often have an ongoing recruitment process rather than an annual or bi-annual one, and a few of them are always looking for volunteers. Some even accept volunteers from outside their counties, although you must be within a reasonable drive time of their response area if you want to respond to their calls.
What do teams look for in new recruits? Here are a few examples from team website recruitment pages:
Alpine Rescue Team: “The team looks for individuals who wish to help others and have the time and desire to contribute. No special skills are required. Attitude is much more important than skill level.”
Douglas County Search and Rescue: “Passion to serve, desire to learn, wanting to be part of a team, and physical fitness are the elements we look for.”
El Paso County Search and Rescue: “First, we look for individuals who share our strong desire to serve the community. We then look for individuals who have the availability and commitment to serve, are capable of working in demanding environments, can follow leadership and provide leadership, will work as a member of a team, can perform under stress, are self-motivated, are willing to maintain a high level of skills and fitness, and are willing to do the non-glamorous work that keeps the team running.”
Grand County Search and Rescue: “We seek those with a desire to give of themselves in the areas best suited to their personality and physical ability. Our needs are not only for assistance in the backcountry, but also administration, fundraising and community outreach.”
Lake County Search and Rescue: ““Always looking for passionate and committed volunteers. We are also always looking for a few key personnel in areas such as radios, website optimization, emerging technologies, medical and rescue training coordinators, PSAR (public education); and individuals to lead grant writing and fundraising activities.”
Larimer County Search and Rescue: “We will teach you all you need to know about search and rescue but if you are already comfortable in the backcountry it will allow you to focus on learning the technical skills necessary for SAR. Folks who have spent little time in the backcountry tend to have a harder time.”
Mountain Rescue Aspen: “A person who shows up consistently, has a good attitude, is rigorously honest about what he/she feels capable of doing safely in critical circumstances, and is willing to help in any capacity needed makes for a good team member. Anyone exhibiting “lone wolf” or unsafe mission behavior, or who believes they are too important to perform mundane tasks, will not end up on the team, regardless of how highly technically skilled.” (Note that the total size of MRA is limited to 50 rescuers, so they only recruit when they fall below that number.)
Park County Search and Rescue: “There are many different roles and levels of support – you don’t have to be a world-class climber to provide an indispensable service to the search and rescue community. General outdoor skills & experience are mandatory for an applicant. Prospective Member training builds on your existing outdoor experience to teach search and rescue skills.”
Summit County Rescue Group: “No special skills are necessary to join, but we recommend that you have some outdoor recreational experience, and we caution you that a significant time commitment on your part will be required. The most important attributes to SCRG are individuals who thrive on teamwork, are not seeking individual glory, and have a good attitude towards continually learning and improving on their existing skills.”
Rocky Mountain Rescue Group: “We seek new members with a range of skills and experiences and a diversity similar to our membership. The most important qualities in a rescuer are intelligence, judgment, character, love of the outdoors and a desire to help others as part of a team.”
Are you noticing any trends? First, attitude, teamwork, availability and dedication are more important than skills. Second, many teams need administrative help, so you don’t have to be a super fit backcountry enthusiast to help out. Third, there are no heroes in BSAR – it’s all about the team.
Here are specifics from just a few teams:
Custer County Search and Rescue shares many of the trends mentioned above. In general, they are looking for people who are good team players, have the availability to respond/train, and are interested in and willing to learn. More specifically, due to their complex mission profiles in remote, steep, rugged terrain they are always on the lookout for skilled individuals with technical alpine experience.
The bulk of their incidents involve hikers and climbers lost, stuck or injured in the mountains of the Sangre de Cristo range. Custer recruits on a rolling basis throughout the year, and winter is a good time to apply because most of their calls are between May and October. Interested in learning more? Visit https://custersar.org/new-members/, and consider dropping in to a monthly general meeting, which are held on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 pm at their Search Base in Westcliffe.
Routt County Search and Rescue has been fairly competitive to join for the last few years, but they are always looking for new members with strong motorized skills, especially snowmobilers. They are also interested in folks who have long-term plans to live in Routt County and have the time and skills to help with the administrative side of running the team. Their primary incident types are lost or injured snowmobilers and hunters, but summers can be busy too. They usually run an annual new member class that begins in the spring, with a goal to get candidates ready to be fieldable by the fall hunting season. Commitment, teamwork and availability are most important to them. To learn more, visit https://routtcountysar.org/application/.
Fremont Search and Rescue has ongoing recruitment needs. They respond to a range of calls including injured hikers, “walkaways” (missing dementia patients), stranded vehicles, and lost trail users. They welcome prospective new members in their general meetings throughout the year and have a rolling process to bring them on board. A new recruit must attend two meetings and two training sessions in a row (both are held monthly) before getting a membership application, because it’s important to the team that they meet the members, start developing a sense of teamwork, and fully understand the commitment involved. They must also pass a background check, a common requirement for many teams. Once those requirements are met, candidates can become probationary and go through the team’s own version of SARTECH II training. They have a year in which to finish the training.
Like many teams, Fremont SAR considers commitment and availability to be the most important qualities of a new member. To learn more, visit https://www.fremontsar.com/join/, and consider attending one of the team’s monthly business meetings, held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm.
Chaffee County Search and Rescue North is based in Buena Vista and covers the north end of the county, while Chaffee County SAR South is based in Salida and covers the south end. The north-end team responds to a wide variety of calls including swiftwater rescue, lost and injured hikers and climbers on fourteeners, mountain bikers, horseback riders, snowmobilers, ATV and dirt bike riders, you name it! The team recently limited the size of their team and changed how they accept people into their annual new member academy in order to prioritize availability and commitment over previous skill level. They look for people who are willing to learn, willing to show up on a regular basis, and able to work well with teammates. Monthly meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month and drop-in prospective members are welcome. You can find the membership application here.
