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We are Salt Spring Search and Rescue

We have been active in our community since 1989. We are a dedicated group of over 30 volunteers trained to search for and assist missing persons.  Our members are highly skilled in team work, ground search tactics, first aid, wilderness navigation, tracking, survival, radio communications, high-angle rope rescue, and helicopter safety.

We serve Salt Spring Island and the surrounding Southern Gulf Islands. We also respond to mutual aid requests from neighbouring SAR groups on Vancouver Island and mainland BC.

Salt Spring SAR is the perfect avocation for islanders with a passion for the outdoors who are eager to challenge themselves, in a friendly and supportive environment.

Lost, injured, or facing natural disaster, we are here for British Columbians.

 

  

Membership

Always Recruiting

Learn rewarding new skills in first aid, wilderness survival and high-angle rope rescue

Save lives and reunite lost people with their family and friends

Join a friendly, enthusiastic group of islanders who are committed to ongoing personal development and community support

Challenge yourself to try something new while helping others on Salt Spring Island and beyond

Be part of an effort that unites more than 2,500 volunteers from all walks of life in roughly 80 SAR groups across British Columbia

 

News

Recent Posts

Training

Ground Search & Rescue

All SAR members take an 80-hour course when they join the team. This course includes basic and advanced training in the following areas:

search types and techniques

wilderness navigation (map, compass, GPS)

survival skills / personal preparedness

communications

rope management

rescue techniques

basic tracking

helicopter safety

basic avalanche awareness

basic swift water rescue

Our Mandate

Salt Spring Island Search and Rescue (SAR) Society operates under the oversight of the Emergency Management BC (EMBC) program. We operate with dedicated volunteers trained to find and help missing or lost individuals, as well as provide assistance during natural disasters like forest fires and earthquakes.

We are responsible for wilderness and urban ground SAR missions and are often called to search along inland waters and shorelines.

Our primary geographic area is Salt Spring Island and the southern Gulf Islands, which includes Galiano, Mayne, Pender, Saturna, and more than 50 smaller islands in the vicinity. We also provide mutual aid support to other SAR groups in British Columbia, as requested.

SAR members are skilled in first aid, tracking, wilderness navigation and survival, radio communications, high-angle rope rescue and helicopter safety. The group has been active since 1989 and our team has approximately 34 men and women, ranging in ages from 25 to 70.