Category: Unit Profile

Among our other technical rescue specialties, SAR has a dedicated team that is trained and equipped to perform searches and rescues in our hazardous water environments. Waterways in Snohomish County are scenic destinations that offer excellent recreation opportunity, and are critical to the environment. But water features can be as dangerous as they are magnificent. The Snohomish County SAR Swiftwater Rescue Team is trained and equipped to accomplish search missions and conduct rescue missions in, around and under our area waterways: • Puget Sound shoreline and tidal areas • Arterial river systems (locally Skykomish, Snohomish, Stillaguamish & Sauk) • Dozens of large and hundreds of smaller tributaries • Frontcountry and backcountry lakes in their hundreds • Technical watercourse/waterfall terrain (typically involving rope access & transport) Like other elements of Search & Rescue, Swiftwater Rescue is on call 24/7. The Swiftwater Rescue Team is made up entirely of volunteers who dedicate considerable time and effort to being well trained and equipped so that we can perform our rescue mission when called upon to help others in our community. In addition, our team is a critical component of area emergency response during flood conditions. The nature of water rescue is that we […]

The SCVSAR Mountain Bike Team gives Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue the ability to quickly cover ground where other mechanized vehicles may not be able to go. In searches where a subject is located on or near a trail that can be navigated by bike, we can often locate a missing person faster than a standard ground team. The Mountain Bike Team can also repeatedly cover a trail faster than a team on foot. This is useful for containment purposes, and for subjects who may be wandering within the search area. We can also be used to resupply other ground teams on extended searches, to transport information for verification and we can expedite the response of advanced medical personnel should a subject be located and need medical care. An e-Mountain Bike equipped team enhances these benefits not only by a reduction in time to reach the subject but more substantially by allowing the responder to conserve energy for off-bike SAR duties, should they also become required for the mission.

The Snohomish County Tracker Team is composed of volunteers and law enforcement personnel who are dedicated and highly trained to perform urban and wilderness search and rescue operations and assist with crime scene investigations in Snohomish County, Washington. In partnership with other elements of Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue, the Tracker Team is on call 24/7 to assist the community under the authority of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Living beings moving through an environment leave evidence of their passage, known to trackers as Sign. Tracking is the art and science of identifying and interpreting sign.   Identifying: Trackers find evidence of the subject’s passage through terrain first by finding the sign, then by determining whether the sign was made by the subject, another human, or by natural causes such as animals or weather. This skill only comes about through extensive training and experience.   Interpreting: Once the subject’s sign is identified, additional value is gained by determining where the subject was going, what the subject was doing, and how long ago the sign was made.