Search and Rescue
People become missing. It’s a fact of life. Sometimes, it’s not intentional like in the cases of nursing home patients suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia wandering off, hikers that get lost in the woods, people becoming injured in the same circumstances and others far from help. Sometimes, it’s because they are trapped in a situation that has happened by no fault of their own such as a building collapse or cave in. Sometimes, life takes a tragic turn and we need to find a deceased individual so the family can have closure and the cause of death can be found.
Sometimes it IS intentional. Prisoners do escape from incarceration. Individuals sought by police do hide.
This is where the Search & Rescue Division comes into play. Upon activation by any public safety agency or governmental entity, we will help to find any of these individuals. This is part of our commitment to help preserve life.
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As part of our SAR team have law enforcement credentials in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we can offer expanded service to police agencies over and above normal search activities usually performed by civilian teams or those with only fire service credentials. These members also serve to protect our other team members during a deployment helping to ease the staffing burden on other law enforcement agencies already committed to the scene. Sometimes, law enforcement officers from other divisions may be activated to assist our team during a deployment to ensure the safety of all concerned. During an out of state deployment, these officers may ask to be deputized by the requesting police or sheriff agency. This is not uncommon during an emergency where law enforcement officers may be called in from other jurisdictions.