Who Calls Search and Rescue?

You might wonder, who decides when to call search and rescue? The simple answer is that all ground search and rescue operations in Canada are managed by the RCMP. All Air Search and Rescue is handled by the Canadian Forces, and all Marine Search and Rescue is handled by the Canadian Coast Guard. Each agency can call on a number of resources to help in their search operations. The RCMP can decide to call trained volunteer groups to help in searches.

Details on RCMP policies regarding Search and Rescue are available on their website.

The RCMP are free to enlist the services of volunteers to assist them in search and rescue operations. They do not have to call on the services of any SAR team, but since teams in BC maintain such a high level of expertise the RCMP often call them to assist in evidence searches, urban searches, and wilderness search and rescue operations.

By training and specializing in wilderness travel, navigation, tracking, technical rescue, wilderness first aid and extrication techniques, SAR teams in BC provide a very high quality of service.