Some Suggestions As To How To
"Get Involved With SAR In Washington State"
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- Thank you for your interest in wanting to help others in a time of need.
- To become part of a paid response unit, such as a fire department or police agency, please contact the
appropriate agency, which is usually listed in the government section, by city or county, of a printed or online
phone book.
- To become part of an unpaid professional response unit, please contact a SAR team or unit in your
"county/service area" as listed on the http://wa-sar.net. Alternatively, if you have a particular
interest, such a K-9 or tracking unit, consider using the "by type of unit/organization" section also at
http://wa-sar.net.
- Most units have a link on how to join a team and whom to contact; most unit links also provide a wealth
of information about the unit's operations, trainings, and requirements.
- Some units have an "open applications process" where new members are accepted at any time; others have a
more formal application process, where selected new members start trainings at a certain time of the year.
Thus if one unit, in or near your county, isn't a good match for you, consider contacting another unit in
the area.
- Note that for potential "field responders", many units require a set number of trainings and mission
participations per year. They also generally require a field responders to provide his/her own personal
gear.
- There are also many "non-field position" opportunities in an unpaid professional response unit, ranging
from helping maintain/repair rescue vehicles to assisting with food preparation at a mission base, for
example. These individuals normally do not need to take/complete the same training that field responders
undergo, but are an integral part of making "SAR" function.
- If you would like to support a unit in a non-performance manner, such as a donation of money, materials, or
facilities or vehicle use, for example, please contact a unit within your county or area of interest.
- Should you want general or national level SAR training, not specific to a particular team, or want to explored
advanced training, there are also links as http://wa-sar.net for those that provide this kind of
training. (You will also find links to SAR equipment vendors there.)
- If you need further assistance, feel free to contact the webmaster at http://wa-sar.net or
myself.
Sincerely,
Rick Hood
SAR educator and volunteer
rick@hoodcs.com
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