Local Search and Rescue Teams in the United States
Date
2006
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Disaster Research Center
Abstract
Arguably one of the least appreciated actors in disaster response is local search and rescue (SAR) teams, despite their importance in saving lives. In contrast to fire and police departments, federal Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) taskforces, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and other well known disaster response organizations, local SAR teams have not received much recognition or support at the national level. This is the case even in the contemporary context in which "homeland security" and "improvements of resiliency" in American institutions are buzzwords. Their "invisibility" is also reflected in the dearth of research literature about them in the field of emergency management and the social sciences of disasters. An exception to this is the work by Lois (1999), who looked at the dynamics of a local SAR team and provided an in-depth view of the authority structure and the slow advancement of new members in the hierarchy of the group. Earlier, Drabek (1981) also provided insights by surveying local SAR teams in Washington and Wyoming to better understand attitudes towards regulations, agency jurisdictions, SAR funding, and issues of legal liability. While these efforts begin to explore important questions in this understudied field, the current study attempts to give a summary view of the main features of this network of responders.
Description
Keywords
Search and Rescue