You can make a difference to your fellow citizens.
Douglas County Search and Rescue invites anyone over 18 years old with an interest in the outdoors and helping others to apply for membership. Previous search and rescue or emergency services experience is not required.
We seek volunteers who are driven to serve, eager to learn, committed to teamwork, and physically capable of meeting the demands of search and rescue. New members have brought a wide variety of rescue, medical, and leadership skills to the team.
Our annual new member training typically starts in September and runs through May. Candidates join fielded members on all regularly scheduled training, plus have an additional orientation training each month. Most new members become fielded by the Memorial Day Holiday. Our 2025/2026 class is well underway at this point, and we are not accepting additional applications at this time. We anticipate another new member class for 2027/2028 and we will have advance informational meetings in July or August of 2027 – and will accept applications at that time. To be invited to one of the informational meetings, please fill-out the form at the bottom of this page.
Our team meetings and classroom training are on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings of the month (unless we are activated for a mission). If you would like to attend a Wednesday team meeting to learn more about the team, please contact us via: info@dcsarco.org for more information on time and location.
There are minimum attendance requirements for members for both training and missions. Failure to meet minimum attendance may result in loss of field status and possible dismissal from the team. DCSAR provides emergency services for the citizens of Douglas County, so members are expected to respond to callouts when available.
Our training topics include navigation (map, compass, and GPS); use of rescue equipment and low angle rescue; patient evaluation, packaging and handling, wilderness medical considerations; search theory, strategy and tactics; winter operations, and more. All team members will be trained and certified at some level of first aid beyond basic. First aid and medical certification classes are held independently of other team training.
On an ongoing basis, all team members in DCSAR train year-round four times a month: two Wednesday evenings, one Saturday, and one Sunday each month.
This is a large time commitment and something to consider before applying for membership. Combined, DCSAR members donate over 10,000 hours of service each year with missions, training, and community outreach activities.
All members must provide their own clothing and personal equipment.
Prospective members should live within Douglas County to enable rapid, safe response to search and rescue missions. The Douglas County Sheriff performs background and DMV checks on all applicants and reserves the right to deny membership to anyone not passing these checks.
There is a non-refundable (unless application denied) fee.
If you would like more information about applying for membership, email info@dcsarco.org or fill out the form below: