A overwhelming 95% of Oregonians enjoy outdoor recreation activities each year. Of those people, 0.025% become lost or injured, resulting in roughly 1,000 search and rescue (SAR) missions annually.
At the Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM), our statewide SAR coordinator works closely with
the
Oregon State Sheriff’s Association Search and Rescue Advisory Council (SARAC), their 36 County SAR Coordinators and any other public and private organizations and agencies involved in search and rescue.
OEM’s role in these rescues is to coordinate state and federal agency resources, process requests for the use of volunteers and equipment, provide on-scene search and rescue coordination when requested by an authorized person, and know what people, equipment and materials available throughout the state for search and rescue missions.
OEM also assists in developing training and outdoor education programs, tracks SAR statistics throughout the year.