Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety, security, and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal with ad hoc emergencies as part of their normal responsibilities. Many of these agencies engage in community awareness and prevention programs to help the public avoid, detect, and report emergencies effectively. Emergency services are often considered first responders, and typically have dedicated emergency vehicles.
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 is conducted over. These include mountain rescue; ground search and rescue, including the use of search and rescue dogs ; urban search and rescue in cities; combat search and rescue on the battlefield and air-sea rescue over water.
Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with technical rope access issues, snow, avalanches, ice, crevasses, glaciers, alpine environments and high altitudes. The difficult and remote nature of the terrain in which mountain rescue often occurs has resulted in the development of a number of specific pieces of equipment and techniques. Helicopters are often used to quickly extract casualties, and search dogs may be deployed to find a casualty.
His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is the section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the UK Maritime Search and Rescue Region. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources to respond to persons either in distress at sea, or to persons at risk of injury or death on the cliffs or shoreline of the United Kingdom. Since 2015 it has also been responsible for land-based search and rescue helicopter operations.
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 the mid-1950s and were followed by others in California and elsewhere. The rugged, mountainous terrain of these areas often require massive amounts of manpower for proper searches for missing people, not to mention their rescue and evacuation from remote areas. The ESAR mission has also expanded over the years to include urban search and rescue and other disaster-related disciplines. Many ESAR groups also provide wilderness safety training to the public.
Mounted search and rescue (MSAR) is a specialty within search and rescue (SAR), using horses as search partners and for transportation to search for missing persons. SAR responders on horseback are primarily a search resource, but also can provide off-road logistics support and transportation. Mounted SAR responders can in some terrains move faster on the ground than a human on foot, can transport more equipment, and may be physically less exhausted than a SAR responder performing the same task on foot. Mounted SAR responders typically have longer initial response times than groundpounder SAR resources, due to the time required to pick up trailer, horse(s), and perhaps also water, feed, and equipment.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office (VCSO), also sometimes known as the Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD), provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that Ventura County Sheriff's Office provides police services for are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks.
Mount Hood climbing accidents are incidents related to mountain climbing or hiking on Oregon's Mount Hood. As of 2007, about 10,000 people attempt to climb the mountain each year. As of May 2002, more than 130 people are known to have died climbing Mount Hood since records have been kept. One of the worst climbing accidents occurred in 1986, when seven high school students and two teachers froze to death while attempting to retreat from a storm.
Rampart Search and Rescue (RSAR) serves the communities within Adams County, Colorado. Its name is derived from the '70's TV show Emergency! where Rampart was the name of the hospital. Rampart search and rescue has been in operation since 1973. The mission of Rampart Search & Rescue is to provide search and rescue assistance, free of charge, to local, county, state and federal agencies during missing person searches, both man-made and natural disaster related emergencies.
North Shore Rescue is a non-profit organization dedicated to wilderness search and rescue around Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It consists of a team of approximately 40 volunteers who perform an average of 79 search and rescue operations each year, mostly in the rugged, steep, and thickly forested North Shore Mountains. North Shore Rescue assists hikers, skiers, snowshoers, mountain bikers, and others who are reported to be lost or in distress. It also provides education on mountain safety, and some services in urban search and rescue.
The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services is a California cabinet-level office responsible for overseeing and coordinating emergency preparedness, response, recovery and homeland security activities within the state. The agency was created by AB 38 (2008), superseding both the Office of Emergency Services (OES) and Office of Homeland Security (OHS).
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax is a rescue coordination centre operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).
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).
Marin County Search and Rescue is an all-volunteer organization in Marin County within Marin County Sheriff's Office. With approximately sixty active members, Marin County's Search and Rescue responds to searches for missing children and adults, evidence and other search requests in the county and on mutual aid calls anywhere in the state of California. Marin SAR is a mountain rescue Type I team with the motto of: "Anytime, Anywhere, Any Weather."
The San Diego Mountain Rescue Team (SDMRT) is an all-volunteer organization located in San Diego County, California operating under the jurisdiction of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. With approximately seventy active members, SDMRT responds to calls at any time to search for and rescue missing, injured or stranded persons in San Diego County and, through mutual-aid requests, in other counties within the state of California. SDMRT is a fully accredited member of the international Mountain Rescue Association as well as an accredited Type I Mountain Search and Rescue Team. SDMRT routinely works with the San Diego Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Bureau and San Diego's Aerial Support to Regional Enforcement Agencies (ASTREA) on operations within the county. On operations outside of San Diego County, SDMRT works under the particular agency having jurisdiction for the region in question.
Search and rescue in the United States involves a wide range of organizations that have search and rescue responsibilities.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Search and Rescue is an all-volunteer organization in San Luis Obispo County within the county's Sheriff's office. With approximately fifty active members year round, San Luis Obispo County's Search and Rescue (SLOSAR) responds to searches for missing people, evidence and other search requests in the county and on mutual aid calls anywhere in the state of California. SLOSAR is a National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR) Type II certified team able to handle the urban and wilderness searches below 7,000 feet in elevation.
Coquitlam Search and Rescue (SAR) is a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to wilderness search and rescue in the Coquitlam area of British Columbia, Canada. Its service area includes the communities of Anmore, Belcarra, Burnaby, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.
Halifax Regional Search and Rescue is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to ground search and rescue primarily within Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. It consists of a team of approximately 200 volunteers who respond 24/7 to lost person incidents, wilderness rescues, civil emergencies, and evacuations.
Juneau Mountain Rescue (JMR) is a mountain search and rescue agency, located in Juneau, Alaska, United States. JMR is a member of the Alaska Search and Rescue Association, and facilitates rescues involving wilderness terrain, rope rescues on rock faces, ice and snow fields, glaciers, and during avalanches, medical evacuations, missing persons cases, aircraft crashes and other disasters. An all-volunteer organization, JMR coordinates with Capital City Fire/Rescue, the Juneau Police Department, the Alaska State Troopers, the United States Coast Guard, and other emergency response agencies during search and rescue operations.
Castle Rock, CO