Nicolet Search Team Membership Requirements

An active member shall be required to attend a minimum of fifty percent of Team workouts and fifty percent of Team meetings during the calendar year unless he/she shows acceptable reason for absenteeism and the attendance requirement is waived by a two-thirds majority vote of the active members.

All members must abide by the code of conduct as set forth by the organization and sign a waiver of liability.

Membership Categories

Operational Awareness Member

To be able to actively participate in a search mission, at a minimum a member must complete all of the following training;

   1.   Team’s Introduction SAR Awareness Course within 90 days of joining.
   2   NIMS Training, ISC-100 and ICS-700 within 90 days of joining.
   3   NIMS Training, ICS-200 within 180 days of joining.

A member shall be considered a Trainee until all of these items have been completed.

Ground Search Technician

Operational members are qualified field searchers; show ability to assemble and care for personal gear; know basic radio procedure; possess map and compass knowledge; be physically fit.

Operational members are qualified field searchers and have

   1.   Completed all of the Operational Awareness training.
   2.   Completed the NASAR Fundamentals of Search & Rescue within 12 months of joining.
   3.   Have attempted and attained the NASAR Certification of SARTEC II within 12 months of completing the FUNSAR course.

Field members will not participate in field operations without proper dress or equipment, including 24 hour pack.

Team Leader

All Team Leaders are qualified Ground Search Technicians and in addition have:

1. Completed the NASAR Advanced Search & Rescue course;
2. Have attempted and attained the NASAR Certification of SARTEC I within 12 months of completing the ADSAR course.

Team Leaders will not participate in field operations without proper dress or equipment, including 24 hour pack containing all required additional equipment.

Ground Search Technician (Tracker)

Ground Search Technicians (Tracker) are qualified field searchers and have:

1. Completed all of the requirements for the Ground Search Technician.
2.

Mounted Search Technician

All Mounted / Equine Search Technicians are qualified Ground Search Technicians and in addition:

1. Both horse and rider have been evaluated according to the Teams, Mounted Search Standards.
2. Have and maintain the addtional equipment needs (Form SAR10A).

All mounted team members will be responsible for the transportation and expense of their horse(s) to and from training and mission sites.

Mountain Bike Search Technician

Mountain Bike Search Technician are qualified field searchers and have:

1. Completed all of the requirements for the Ground Search Technician.
2.

Base Camp Member

Base Camp personnel are Operational Awareness level members who participate in the Team's search and rescue operations in some capacity other than as a field searcher such as radio operations, transportation and logistics. Base camp members are encouraged to concentrate on search management skills.

Support Member

Support members are non-voting members who help out any way they can; such as fund raising, training and actual search logistics. These members do not need to maintain active membership requirements, but must indicate membership status annually and maintain contact information with the Team. Support members are encouraged to attend Team training, but are not required to.

Junior Member

Junior members are non-voting members ages 16-17 years of age who provide support and service to the association in a non-search capacity and must have a parent or guardian who is meets active member status. Junior members may attend all training sessions and participate, but may only participate in a support role during actual search missions.

Trainee Member

Trainees are applicants for Junior, Base Camp or Operational Membership status who have not completed the Team’s SAR Awareness training or any other SAR Training. Trainees must be at least eighteen years of age or must have a parent who is an active member of this organization. Trainees may not participate in field search operations.

Before joining, you should know...

Before you decide to sign up as a search and rescue (SAR) team member, there are some things about SAR work we would like you to know. The following list of SAR-related issues isn't meant to scare you away or discourage you from joining our team. We simply want to make sure you have as much information as possible before making this type of commitment.

We are a volunteer organization. We do not get paid for our work.
SAR work can be the most unforgiving, ungrateful, unappreciated work you've ever not been paid for. You can spend 5 days on a search for someone you might never find, or who might not even say thank you. SAR work can also be the most rewarding thing you ever do.
Each member is responsible for providing his or her own gear (with the exception of radios & GPS)
We train and search in all types of weather, temperatures, and terrain--both day and night. 3am searches in driving rain, up and down drainages, through vine maple and salmonberry briars, are common.
We search for all kinds of people in all kinds of situations: missing hikers, hunters, children, Alzheimer's patients, suicide victims, body recoveries, and more. We also do evidence searches including those for human remains. You always have the option of not going on a callout, but we want you to know upfront that we do a lot more than just finding missing hikers.

We would like to thank you for considering becoming a part of our dedicated and professional team of skilled searchers. We know that you still have many questions that have gone unanswered, so we would ask that you visit with our many members and find out more about what we do. We hold our monthly meetings on the second Saturday of each month at 9:00am and various other days for field training. We tend to meet at the Mountain Ambulance Station, but the bowels of the Nicolet National Forest sometimes provides the meeting room also. You are more than welcome to attend and find out more about the Team.

National Homeland Security Knowledgebase

The Nicolet Search Team, Inc. is a recognized non-profit organization and holds a Federal 501(c)(3) letter of Tax Exemption.

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