Course Information

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A lot of information about SAR training is available. To help both the Volunteer Lay-person and Professional alike, we are providing you some information to help you understand what some of the different training levels are. There are typically 3 levels of training recognized in virtually all fields of rescue work. These help planners identify a given level of skill set and capability for each person or ‘resource’ available to them. These levels have common names: Awareness (often interchanged with ‘Introductory’), Operations (sometimes referred to as Intermediate), and Technician. What does each mean?

Awareness: The basic fundamental level to become aware of the primary duties, hazards, accepted safety practices, and an in-depth overview of what the subject matter is about. Rarely is a person trained at an awareness level assigned to have an independent, hands-on approach in any emergency situation. They may have some peripheral taskings to support the overall efforts, but they are supervised by persons with a higher level of training and are not primary operators or technicians ‘in the trenches’ mitigating a situation.
Operations: This is the front line person/operator who carries out tactics to mitigate a task or objective in a field environment. This is a highly skilled and trained individual who knows how to independently or as a team operate tools, formulate plans, and take action with calculated risks to safely execute a plan to help others in distress. A common example may be a fire fighter with full Bunker Gear containing a fire near or around a building with spilled chemicals, extricating an injured motorist from a wrecked automobile, or using a series of ropes and pulleys to lift a victim from over a steep embankment.
Technician: This is a front line specialist with advanced and very specific training who carries out tactics and mitigates tasks which are too advanced or too dangerous for the Operations level person. A common example is the Technician who dons a self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and other specialized ‘HAZMAT suits’ and goes into a Hazardous Materials spill and actually has contact with the contaminates to clean it up, or a person who goes into a confined space using advanced rope and pulley systems to access a person in distress.

If you have an understanding of these levels of training based on Introductory/Awareness level, Operations level, and Technician level, we will try and equate NASAR’s courses to these levels. NASAR’s numbering system uses the title of ‘Technician’, but identifies the level of training by numbers as: SARTECH III = Introductory level (i.e. an in-depth overview of what the subject matter is); SARTECH II = Operations level (for the persons who are field operators who actually participate in the field operation); and SARTECH I = Technician level (for the person who has advanced and specialized skills in the subject matter, tactics, and leadership rolls). This is the best way to help you see the difference between the levels.

NOTE: Using NASAR’s training system, you do not have to start with the Introductory level training to advance to Operations. You can begin your formal/organized SAR training with FUNSAR and SARTECH II at the Operations level.

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Educational Courses

SAR AWARENESS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS – An Overview (Course #01)

What is SAR? Most people, including local officials, Fire and Law Enforcement in charge of local SAR events are ignorant to what SAR really is. Not because they are dumb or closed minded, but because they have never received any form of training about what SAR is.