>>819908Had both good and bad experiences with SAR. Never needed their services myself.
Here, you have to be a resident of the county to be on the county's SAR team.
Even if I know an area/region well and have tools/equipment (snowmobile/motorcycle, first aid training/equipment, communications, avalanche rescue gear/certifications) they won't talk to me.
It's also a big time "good ol boys club". If you're not "in" the club, you probably never will be.
SAR is good at what they do, i'm not knocking them in any way.
I also feel that for some calls, they turn away a lot of useful help.
Been working with local SAR agencies to develop a "local area experts" pool... these are people that have gone through some vetting process and are able/willing to put in volunteer hours and equipment for certain calls.
A pair of hikers is out later than expected, that's what SAR is for. Two very skilled snowmobilers in a technical area caught in an avalanche, why not let a few racers on modern turbo'd sleds help out.
In the snowmobile community, for example, there's certain groups of people who ride certain areas regularly. They know the areas well, and have skills to get around. They're probably carrying two-way radios (FRS/GMRS, not P25), have survival/first aid training and equipment.
If I ever get into shit and can't get myself out, I'd much rather have a team of snowmobilers that thinks like snowmobilers, and has snowmobiling skills to get into the area I'm in faster looking for me than SAR who might have more radio/first-aid equipment but not have modern snowmobiles or decent skills to ride it .... or opt for a mode of travel they're more confident with like skis or snowshoes (i'll see them in about 3 days, vs. covering that same distance on a 150hp snowmobile).
