The Coos County Sheriff's Office has set the following criteria:

To become SAR certified in Coos County an individual must:

1) Attend and pass a training course presented by the Search and Rescue Division known as the Search and Rescue Academy.  This course meets the search and rescue criteria for certification by the Oregon State Sheriff's Association (OSSA).

To pass the Search and Rescue Academy an individual must successfully complete a series of performance skill objective tests administered during the course of the Academy. An individual must also obtain a minimum score of 80% on a written test administered at the conclusion of the Academy.  

The training includes:  

Radio Communications (2hrs)  

Map and Compass (12hrs)  

Search Techniques and Strategy (6hrs)  

Crime Scene Security (3hrs)  

Outdoor Survival (8hrs)  

Incident Command System (2 hrs)  

Tracking (6hrs)  

Aircraft Safety & Victim Rescue (7hrs)

Search Dog Orientation (1 hr)  

Hypothermia recognition (2hrs)  

Blood born pathogen awareness (2hrs)  

Policy (ORS 401, Coos County SAR plan) and safety review 2hrs)

 Horse awareness (2hrs)

 2) Pass a basic first aid and CPR certification and maintain certification.

 3) Complete at least 60 hours of "approved training". The SAR Academy may be included as part of the 60 hours.

 4) Submit a medical release signed by a physician stating that an individual is capable of performing the strenuous physical activity characteristic of a ground search (see attachment)

 "Approved training" will be defined as: Any training directly related to search and rescue and accepted as such by the Sheriff, Emergency Manager and SAR volunteer board.  A training outline including a training objective will be submitted to the Volunteer Board and Emergency Manager and approved prior to the training being conducted.

 SAR Re-certification

To maintain OSSA/Coos County SAR certification, volunteer personnel must annually:

 1) Submit training records (for the past calendar year) to the Emergency Manager by the last Tuesday of January

 2) Complete the re-certification core curriculum consisting of:           

            Map and Compass (8hrs)  

            Survival skills (8hrs)  

            First Aid and CPR (4hrs)  

            Policy and Safety Review (2hrs)  

3) Complete 16 hours of additional "approved training" in specialty areas such as tracking, survival, ICS, first aid, trail rides, getting 4 wheel drives unstuck, etc.

 All SAR certified personnel will participate in at least one (1) group training session each year.  The training will be "approved training" as noted above.