Saving lives in Snohomish County and beyond

Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue (SCVSAR) is an all-volunteer organization delivering emergency response to those in need across the county’s urban and wilderness areas. Our dedicated members come to the aid of anyone lost or injured wherever they might be. We find children, search for lost people with dementia, mental health issues, and developmental challenges, respond to major disasters, and perform life-saving first aid and CPR. We support the Snohomish County Sheriff and other Law Enforcement Agencies in evidence searches.

Who We Are

SCVSAR has over 300 dedicated members. We perform more than 120 life-saving missions each year, logging over 9,500 hours of service. Our capabilities include helicopter rescue, 4x4 rescue, wilderness and urban search, K-9, horseback, swift-water, mountain recovery, and emergency first aid.

We operate in coordination with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office and the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management. We assist rescue agencies throughout the state.

In an emergency, always dial 911.

Every SCVSAR mission is performed free of charge.

Our continued operation relies primarily on the private donations of businesses and individuals.

Donate Now

Our Stories

Howard Lucus

I just sent you a donation because your last newsletter sent me down memory lane. About 60 years ago, I was a member of Explorer Search and Rescue, a bunch of teenage kids that assisted Mountain Search and Rescue and […]

Debra Draper

I first started when the Oso slide happened. I had a very dear friend of mine that lost his brother in the slide, and just being a person of the community I had to do something to help. The first […]

Jeff Hollowell

I moved to Washington in November 2007 and shortly after I started getting into hiking and mountaineering. I was a relatively new hiker, just learning about the mountains and gear and navigation and on June 21 2009 I went hiking […]

John McKeon

“Three Teens Trapped on Three Fingers Mountain” the news read back on Tuesday evening through Wednesday evening, August 26-27, 2008. Those were the “best-worst days” of our lives, since one of those teens was ours (and another we had custody […]

Lingering Snow Creating Dangerous Conditions for Unprepared Hikers

SEATTLE, Wash. – Search and rescue teams across the region spent the weekend responding to hikers in trouble. To read the original KOMO article by Kara Kostanich in its entirety, please click here. Then, Tuesday afternoon a team was called to […]

Phone Scam Warning!

We’ve recently received reports that someone is calling folks and advising that they are soliciting donations for Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue. This is a local variant of a very common phone scam, and you should not provide them […]

Volunteers Turning Vintage Helicopter into Kid-Friendly Float

Rikki King, Everett Herald SNOHOMISH — Children go straight for the buttons and levers. “It’s amazing to see their eyes and the expression when they’re at the controls,” said Bill Quistorf, the chief pilot for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s […]

What were you doing on Mother’s Day 2016?

On a mild Saturday afternoon in May of 2016, a group of teens embarked on a day-hike to Blanca Lake, in the remote Cascade Mountains. As they hiked up the steep trail they had no way of knowing that one […]

Spring 2017: President’s Letter

Randy Fay, Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue President As we kind of “slop” our way into this year’s Spring season our personnel are emerging from a winter of extensive training in all disciplines, refurbishing equipment, pre-planning for the upcoming […]