Search and Rescue (SAR) Coordination & Management Training Course

The Search and Rescue (SAR) Coordination & Management Training Course equips search and rescue coordinators, air navigation service provider staff, civil aviation and maritime authority specialists, and emergency response professionals with the knowledge and practical understanding needed to plan, coordinate, and manage search and rescue operations for aviation and, where relevant, maritime incidents in line with international obligations. Search and rescue is a state responsibility and a critical safety service: when an aircraft is in distress or missing, a well-organized, well-practiced search and rescue system saves lives. Effective search and rescue depends on clear organization, defined regions and responsibilities, trained coordinators, reliable alerting and communications, sound search planning, and strong coordination among aviation, maritime, military, and civil agencies. The course covers search and rescue coordination and management from the international framework to operations and continuous improvement. Participants learn the international framework and obligations for aeronautical and maritime search and rescue, the organization of search and rescue regions, rescue coordination centres, and rescue sub-centres, and the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved. The program then addresses the search and rescue system components, including alerting, the phases of emergency (uncertainty, alert, and distress), communications, and the activation and conduct of operations. Participants cover search and rescue planning, including determining the search area, datum and drift, search patterns, and allocation of search and rescue units, mission coordination and on-scene coordination, and the use of aircraft, vessels, and ground teams. Participants also examine distress alerting systems and technologies, civil-military and inter-agency coordination, cross-border and regional cooperation and agreements, medical and survivor considerations, mass rescue operations, exercises and training, investigation and debriefing, performance measurement, and the use of technology and data in modern search and rescue. The course is delivered through case studies, search planning and datum exercises, coordination simulations, and a search and rescue scenario exercise. Participants leave with a search and rescue organization and responsibilities reference, a search and rescue operation checklist, a search planning worksheet, an inter-agency coordination framework, and a search and rescue exercise and improvement template. This course addresses coordination and management of search and rescue and complements, rather than replaces, hands-on operational search and rescue and survival training.