Where do I start? (California)

[Tigglebitties]

I ran into a guy on the trail the other day and he told me he volunteers for search & rescue and the forestry service and goes out all the time to clean up trails, help rescue & search efforts occasionally. He said one requirement was a vehicle with four wheel drive, oversized tires, lights etc
and left me feeling kinda dumb. I'm always out on the trails in a rig more than capable of this and love helping anyone I can but why not make it a point to do this? I forgot what group he said he helps with so Where do I even start to find a group to volunteer?
Is this kinda thing privately organized or could I justify recovery gear purchases with write offs come tax season?

Any info would be appreciated I really wanna put my rig to a productive, positive use.
Thanks
Spencer

 

[Arclight]

Hi Spencer,

First off, it depends on what your interests are and how much of a time committment you can manage. There are SAR teams organized by the county Sheriff, USFS, Park Service and also private groups.

I volunteer with the San Bernardino County Sheriff. There are ground/off-road, mountain, equestrian, air, communications, medical and law enforcement-oriented teams within our Sheriff's volunteer forces program.

Our team does technical rescue (high-angle rope work, Winter SAR, etc) as well as basic ground-pounding. We train once a month (1 or 2 days) and make ourselves available on a best-effort basis for SAR call-outs. Many of our members have 4WD vehicles, but it is not a requirement at all. We have two team vehicles for our use, and can check out a van or Excursion when needed. Our team has no residency requirements, but other teams may.

I would encourage you to start with the county sheriff's office in LA/OC/San Bernardino/Riverside and get some more information on their requirements. Then see if you can observe a training or 2 with some different teams to get an idea of how they operate. Once you join one, the training committment ranges from a short weekend class to 100s of hours.

If you have questions, feel free to PM.

Cheers,

Arclight

I ran into a guy on the trail the other day and he told me he volunteers for search & rescue and the forestry service and goes out all the time to clean up trails, help rescue & search efforts occasionally. He said one requirement was a vehicle with four wheel drive, oversized tires, lights etc
and left me feeling kinda dumb. I'm always out on the trails in a rig more than capable of this and love helping anyone I can but why not make it a point to do this? I forgot what group he said he helps with so Where do I even start to find a group to volunteer?
Is this kinda thing privately organized or could I justify recovery gear purchases with write offs come tax season?

Any info would be appreciated I really wanna put my rig to a productive, positive use.
Thanks
Spencer

 

[libarata]

I looked into a few SAR groups in the San Diego area, and never heard of a group requiring you to modify your vehicle. Most of what I heard, is if all you have is a Go-Ped, once everyone is at the location, they will split folks up depending on what/who shows up. Just as Arclight suggests, go speak with folks. If you get a group that seems pretty exclusive, move on to the next... There are many ways to go about this. I also suggest looking into your local CERT(Civilian Emergency Response Team). CERT can help you wedge your way into different types of units, and gives you some entry level training.

 

[nwoods]

I spent a fair amount of time in the Adopt A Trail program with the San Bernadino National Forest. They have a dedicated website: http://sbnf-adopt-a-trail.com/, but I participated as part of MyJeepRocks, one of the major supporting Jeep clubs in the AAT program (http://www.myjeeprocks.com/aat/)

The SBNFS holds quarterly AAT meetings in Corona at the Sizzler steakhouse restaurant. These meetings are well attended with 50 to 100 folks on any given evening. Last meeting was July 16th, so we aren't due for another for a while.

Here is a list of local trails and the clubs that have Adopted them:
http://sbnf-adopt-a-trail.com/page57.html

 

[peneumbra]

In Los Angeles County, most of the SAR units are operated by the County Sheriffs Dept. (LASD). To be a member of these, one has to become a Reserve Deputy Sheriff via the LASD Reserve Academy, which is a great program, but quite time-consuming (and rigorous).

The Sierra Madre SAR unit is a civilian group that has been around for decades. 832 (peace officer) status is not required for membership. I believe one has to live fairly close to Sierra Madre in order to belong. They have a website that gives contact info, etc.

 

[Arclight]

Sierra Madre is an excellent and highly technical team. They do require you to live within a certain distance of their barn, and you also have to become an EMT. I believe their probationary period is about 1 year. If you are interested in technical rescue and medical, I would definitely talk to them. I wouldn't say that their time committment is less than becoming an LASD reserve.

Arclight

In Los Angeles County, most of the SAR units are operated by the County Sheriffs Dept. (LASD). To be a member of these, one has to become a Reserve Deputy Sheriff via the LASD Reserve Academy, which is a great program, but quite time-consuming (and rigorous).

The Sierra Madre SAR unit is a civilian group that has been around for decades. 832 (peace officer) status is not required for membership. I believe one has to live fairly close to Sierra Madre in order to belong. They have a website that gives contact info, etc.

 

[peneumbra]

@Arclight: True dat. (I always wanted to say that to someone.)

Some people balk at going to the (LASD) academy, and at having to become a peace officer, for various reasons. I've heard that LASD is thinking about changing the reserve deputy status requirement for the teams.

 

[Arclight]

San Bernardino County does not require you to become a reserve, although you are allowed to if you want. I'm unsure about O.C., but I suspect they encourage it as all of the OCSD SAR people I have seen in the field were reserve deputies.

Arclightg

@Arclight: True dat. (I always wanted to say that to someone.)

Some people balk at going to the (LASD) academy, and at having to become a peace officer, for various reasons. I've heard that LASD is thinking about changing the reserve deputy status requirement for the teams.

 

[Tigglebitties]

Thank you for all the information!
As much as I would love to be able to commit to a real SAR team, time constraints from my job won't allow that. I've contacted the IE4W 4 Wheel club. If i can't train and perform live rescues, I can at least do monthly runs and trail cleanups to do my part!
Hopefully someday I'll be able to join a more involved group.

 

[JimBiram]

Check out this private SAR group....http://gijoesar.org/home.html

 

[Arclight]

This group does something that complements the "regular" SAR teams like I and other folks here volunteer with. They look for people who were never found.

When someone goes missing, normal search & rescue goes into action and does several things. Typically, law enforcement works it as a "missing persons" and possible crime scene, while SAR is dispatched to perform a "hasty" search. If the subject is not found in the usual places (i.e. a team sweeps the trail from both sides looking for sign) and it goes on for more than a few hours, then it moves into a second phase, where more resources are brought in, often with a "mutual aid" request to other counties in the state. This type of search may go on for days or even weeks. Eventually the search has to be called off to preserve those mostly volunteer resources for the next mission.

Anyway, groups like GI Joe are sort of the next tier of SAR - they will volunteer their time to go over the areas that were searched, or expand it to areas that were never covered. This could also mean coming out to an area after the snow melts and there is a chance the subject will be uncovered.

I've met with them before, and they could definitely use some help. PM me if you'd like a contact. They are based out of Orange County, CA.

Arclight

Check out this private SAR group....http://gijoesar.org/home.html

 

[libarata]

Thank you for all the information!
As much as I would love to be able to commit to a real SAR team, time constraints from my job won't allow that. I've contacted the IE4W 4 Wheel club. If i can't train and perform live rescues, I can at least do monthly runs and trail cleanups to do my part!
Hopefully someday I'll be able to join a more involved group.

It all takes time. When the moment is right, it is right