This week in SAR
Gear and tech, team stories, agency and policy news, and funding wins for search and rescue, emergency management, and public safety comms. We summarize; click through to the original source.
Senate committee advances bill to build better tech for finding trapped people
The Senate Commerce Committee passed the bipartisan ITS Codification Act, which would make NTIA's telecom research lab permanent and task it with developing communication and tracking tools for locating people in rubble, mines, and other spots where normal radio fails. The House version passed in 2025; it now heads to the full Senate.
Source: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (press release) ↗Ground team's find plus drone overwatch locates missing Oregon man in 8 minutes
Douglas County SAR volunteers found a missing 73-year-old's bag on a neighboring property, and the sheriff's drone operator spotted him on a steep 35-45 degree slope eight minutes later. He had spent a night outdoors and was reunited with family.
Source: Douglas County Sheriff's Office via FlashAlert ↗Kerrville Rotary pays for a new sheriff's office SAR drone
In the Texas Hill Country, the Rotary Club of Kerrville funded a drone the Kerr County Sheriff's Office will use for search and rescue, disaster assessment, and emergency response. It's a reminder that local service clubs are a real funding route for gear that big grants won't cover.
Source: News 4 San Antonio ↗Firehouse Subs reopens Jan 14: get your equipment quote ready now
The next Public Safety Foundation window opens Jan 14, 2027 at 2 p.m. ET, and the last round hit its 600-application cap. Constellation Response will put together itemized, grant-ready quotes for radios and comms kits ahead of opening day.
Source: Constellation Response ↗Alaska Air Guard pulls two avalanche victims out near Eklutna Lake
An HH-60W crew and pararescue team from the 176th Wing answered an Alaska State Troopers request routed through the Rescue Coordination Center. Officials used the mission to urge backcountry users to carry a beacon, shovel, probe, and a personal locator beacon.
Source: DVIDS / Alaska National Guard ↗Restrictions on DJI are doubling some agencies' drone costs
DroneXL compares a roughly $10,500 DJI Matrice with a $21,000 U.S.-built alternative and looks at how one New Jersey sheriff's office paid for its kit. Sheriffs are asking the FCC for a state and local exemption. Worth reading before you budget a drone line in a grant.
Source: DroneXL ↗UK police hand surplus thermal drones to a volunteer SAR team
Devon and Cornwall Police gave three weatherproof, thermal-capable drones to Peninsula Search and Rescue, which can fly them in rain, wind, and darkness to find missing and vulnerable people. Agency surplus is an often overlooked equipment source for volunteer teams.
Source: Mountain Rescue England and Wales ↗California re-equips all 13 state swiftwater rescue teams ahead of El Niño
Cal OES is delivering new tow vehicles, trailers, two inflatable rescue boats per team, and updated PPE to the local fire departments that host its Type 1 swiftwater teams. The teams deploy statewide through the mutual aid system.
Source: Cal OES News ↗Utah's Summit County SAR closes out a busy fall season in the Uintas
Summit County SAR volunteers and mounted patrol handled a run of calls in the Uintas: a hiker with an injured horse, a man found after his horses came back to the trailhead without him, and a lost party near Ruth Lake.
Source: Park Record ↗Idaho rescue shows what a comms gap costs in the field
An Idaho Guard Black Hawk kept searching for a lost man near Riggins after volunteers had already found him, because poor communications in the remote terrain meant the crew never got word. They then made three confined-area landings and carried him out. The next day, Idaho Mountain SAR used a rope pick-off to bring a man down from a cliff.
Source: DVIDS / Idaho National Guard ↗New FirstNet site fills a rural coverage gap in south Georgia
AT&T and the FirstNet Authority switched on a 5G site along Highway 82 in Brantley County, chosen from local public safety feedback. It's one of 350+ planned sites, so it's worth telling your state's FirstNet team where your dead zones are.
Source: FirstNet Authority ↗ACR launches a 720,000-candela LED searchlight for rescue boats
ACR Electronics' new RCL-200 has a die-cast housing, runs on 12-24V, and pairs with a new wireless handheld remote that can control one or two lights. It's aimed at commercial and larger vessels, including water SAR use.
Source: ACR Electronics (press release) ↗UK mountain rescue gets its casualty care course recognized by a university
Mountain Rescue England and Wales renamed its advanced casualty care qualification Remote Rescue Medical Technician after a University of Lancashire review, and signed an MoU on research and training. It could serve as a model for U.S. teams formalizing medical standards.
Source: Mountain Rescue England and Wales ↗Get this in your inbox
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