# SAR Statistics



## Catalina Valencia (Feb 20, 2008)

Hi
In my team we are presenting a project to the government and we need some numbers to support our words.

I'd appreciate any help regarding statistics of SAR teams and SAR dogs. Things like how many teams/dogs are by area or population, how many would be the ideal. How often teams receive calls, etc. Everything you think could support the need of trained SAR dogs in an area.Links, PDFs, everything is welcomed.


----------



## Guest (May 30, 2009)

Are you presenting on wilderness or Urban?


----------



## Catalina Valencia (Feb 20, 2008)

Both of them, thanks


----------



## Guest (May 30, 2009)

For wilderness you can check out www.nysfedsar.org/ for a list of all SAR teams in NYS. Not all have K9s but most do. You can contact either the federation or individual teams for more info. 

What I can tell you is that with NYS being such a hugely populated state, the need for wilderness live-find teams is not all that great. People that get lost are usually not that far from help. Where SAR personnel seem to be most useful is in recovery missions (hrd). DEC now has 8 or more certified area search dogs so there is some debate as to how things will pan out for volunteer civilian teams. DEC seems to have caught on to the usefulness of canines in search efforts, which is a good thing. 

In NYS I'm pretty sure USAR teams are all through Police and Fire Departments in NYC and Albany, there are no civilians on FEMA teams. I could be wrong about that.


----------



## Konnie Hein (Jun 14, 2006)

Hey Vin:
A lot of FEMA teams have civilians. Some are all firefighters and NYC is the only one that is just police (for canines). I was under the impression that NYTF-2 was all fireman, but that civilians could join too. I could check on that for you if you're personally interested.

Catalina - I'm not sure this is the type of info you're looking for, but here's some general info for FEMA (federal) disaster SAR teams:
Overall, there are 28 FEMA disaster SAR (or USAR) task forces nationwide, each with a canine component (the # of certified dogs per team ranges from 14 at the most to 4 at the least. #s of deployments range widely per year, but each team is equipped to respond nationwide and a couple are equipped to respond internationally.

There is also an organization called SUSAR (State Urban Search and Rescue) which is composed of state-funded disaster search teams. I don't have a list of how many teams are in this organization, but it seems to me as if most states are forming these types of teams. Some of them have canines and some don't, but I don't have specific info per state for that. 

Hope this info is helpful!


----------



## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

I don't think there is any centralized approach to wilderness SAR - I know the Southeast has a lot of wilderness dogs and a decent number of callouts due to large recreational tracts as well as a lot of suburban/rural calls. - I would love to see SAR teams within a 1.5 hour drive of anywhere - more qualified teams not so worried about turf as some are. 

A two hour drive gives immediate resources and back up resources - for us managing all calls within about 1.5 hours would be doable without overwhelming, I think. Based on current call volumes in a tighter local area, with outliers 3-4 hours away.


----------



## Catalina Valencia (Feb 20, 2008)

Thanks a lot!

Yes, it was somehow what I was expecting to read and it gives me good starting points to keep investigating on my own.

At this point, everything is useful, if you have more to add is welcomed.


----------



## Guest (Jun 1, 2009)

"In NYS I'm pretty sure USAR teams are all through Police and Fire Departments in NYC and Albany, there are no civilians on FEMA teams. I could be wrong about that."

Yeah, I meant to say is in NYS FEMA task forces are through FD and NYPD. Yep, there are civilians in FEMA teams nationwide but from what I have been told, in NY, you must be affiliated with a FD or NYPD. 

Maybe I misunderstood what I was being told? I think NY-TF1 is out of albany which is several hours from me. I'm basically not near anything

Konnie, maybe you can clarify for me?


----------



## Konnie Hein (Jun 14, 2006)

Hi Vin:
NYTF-1 is based out of NYC and it is a FEMA team. The team is mainly firemen, but the canine component is strictly NYPD handlers and dogs - no civilians.

NYTF-2 is based out of Albany and it is a state resource, not a FEMA (or federally sponsored) team. NYTF-2 also belongs to SUSAR, which is an alliance of state USAR teams nationwide. When I met the guys from NYTF-2, their entire canine component consisted of firefighters and pre-trained dogs purchased from the NDSDF. I recently *heard* that civilians could join the canine component with their own dogs, but I haven't confirmed that. If you'd like me to, I will check in to that for you.


----------



## Guest (Jun 2, 2009)

Hey Konnie thanks for the clarification. Yeah, it would be nice to know if they are accepting civilian dogs teams. If not, I am a NYS EMT so would I be eligible if I am running with a local FD in that capacity or do I have to go through Firefighter training?


----------



## Konnie Hein (Jun 14, 2006)

Vin - I emailed my contact on NYTF-2 with your questions. I'll let you know via PM what his response is.


----------

