Looking Back, Giving Thanks, and Moving Forward

2017 was a year of reflection for us as we remembered the fourteen men who had a vision for a county-wide, all volunteer search and rescue team (that was 50 years ago now). We are grateful for their incredibly hard work, and today we celebrate being a 300+ volunteer strong organization that is willing and able to respond to those in need, 24/7/365. We are absolutely honored to serve our community, and with your support, we will always be there when the call comes!

That Others May Live!

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 […]

Fall 2018 – President’s Letter

From January through September of 2018, Snohomish County Volunteer Search & Rescue members have been called out on 111 missions amounting to 16,754 hours of volunteer community service. We are 100% volunteers; we have no staff and not one of […]

SCVSAR is Now Utilizing Drones

Beginning in late 2017, SCVSAR started to assemble a new team to enable the use of drones, which are more formally known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s), as a new tool to help with searches and other missions supported by […]

Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue and HRT Provide Mutual Aid to Injured Kittitas County Hiker

On September 4th, Jocelyn and Keshala were hiking in the wooded hills near Rachel Lake in Kittitas County. Jocelyn slipped on the trail and fell, landing fifty feet below at the base of a small waterfall. Keshala scrambled down to […]

Spring 2018 – President’s Letter

We’ve had major changes for Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue with personnel movement in the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office SAR leadership since the last newsletter. With the retirement of Sergeant Danny Wikstrom and the career move of Sergeant Scot […]

Meet our New SAR Sargent, John Q. Adams

Sgt. John Q. Adams has been with the Snohomish County Sheriff since he left the U.S. Marine Corps in 1996. John served 10 years as a patrol deputy in South Snohomish County and was promoted to Master Patrol Deputy while […]