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Volunteer CEMA Search and Rescue Team
Chatham Emergency Management Agency's Search and Rescue (SAR) Team is putting their training to use. In October 2010, members were called upon by Metro Police to aid in the search for a missing 12-year-old girl in downtown Savannah. Within 30 minutes, nearly a dozen team members arrived on scene. The team was in the preliminary stages of starting the search when the child was found safely.
That mission is just one example of how the SAR Team is eager to help protect the lives of Chatham County residents. The CEMA SAR Team formed in early 2010 and the 15 person team completed requirements that led them to become a nationally certified Search and Rescue Team. The training, led by instructors from the National Association of Search and Rescue, included man-tracking skills, clue identification, route and area searches, land navigation and rope skills. The training is NASAR's second certification level, SARTECH II. In addition, each member of the SAR team was required to carry a fully equipped 24 hour pack as mandated by NASAR. Other members have also attended Wilderness Search in Rescue in North Georgia. Members spent several psychically enduring days training in Sweetwater Creek State Park where they focused on map and compass skills, night search techniques as well as rough terrain search skills.
Ongoing training for the team doesn't stop. CEMA SAR Team meets regularly and conducts exercises that are as close to a real life search as possible. In December the team was part of a Helicopter Rescue Training exercise conducted by Southside Fire Department that took place near Skidaway Island. The SAR Team aided SSFD and the United States Coast Guard in the exercise mission and the "stranded" person was lifted to safety. Coming up in January the team will attend Lost Person Behavior training, which will aid SAR members if ever confronted with searching for an Alzheimer's patient or even a person with Autism.
It's the commitment from team members and their ongoing training that provides local public safety officials with an additional resource. It's CEMA's goal to continue the mission of the SAR Team, so when that call comes again, the team will be ready.
If you are interested in joining the SAR team, contact CEMA's office at 912-201-4500. 
CEMA SAR Team is now offering the Hug-a-Tree Program. The free program teaches children how not to become lost and what to do if they do get lost. If you are interested in bringing the program to your school, church, community group or boy/girl scout meeting, click here for more information.
