MCSO SAR was founded by a parent interested in forming a Boy Scout bagpiper crew. The troop was only open to males and had 12 members. At the time the troop had no interest in performing search and rescue tasks, but in 1961 it was called upon to do so by Multnomah County after all of their law enforcement staff were exhausted during a search on Mount Hood. The group agreed to assist with the search and were later asked to partner with Multnomah County Sheriff's Office as a volunteer search and rescue resource. Once the unit was officially affiliated with the county, it began offering membership to women and slowly gained female members. Years later, after the Boy Scout affiliation faded, the sheriff's office began affiliating the unit as the primary search and rescue resource for Multnomah County.
Training
All members of MCSO SAR are trained in a wide range of fields, including first aid, the legal aspect of search and rescue, emergency survival skills and equipment, radio communications, land navigation, GPS orientation, crime scene safety and security, search organization and management, search techniques, man tracking, helicopter safety, wilderness medicine, and rescue techniques. A minimum of 40 hours of training each year is required by the state; however, the MCSO SAR itself requires 200 hours. This extra training required by the MCSO SAR includes rope rescue training, rope systems, and pulley systems, urban search and rescue scenarios, training in responding to terrorist attacks, natural disasters and urban searches, crime scene evidence searching, and snow and avalanche safety. MCSO SAR also participates in the Washington StateSearch & Rescue Conference each year for specialist training in a number of different subjects. Starting in the summer of 2007, MCSO SAR began optional training which consisted of review as well as specialized training such as high rope rescue, advanced first aid, advanced survival skills, and helicopter training.
Services
The MCSO SAR provides a number of services to Multnomah County, Oregon. Its members are the main first response team for missing, lost, or injured persons in the county and are often called in by other counties to assist at large search sites or when resources are drained. MCSO SAR members also often perform crime scene evidence searches at major or outdoor crime scenes for agencies all over the state of Oregon and have been credited with finding key evidence that ultimately assisted in solving hundreds of homicides. Besides responding to emergencies, MCSO SAR members often assist with or put on public safety events to inform and teach the public about outdoor safety. MCSO SAR also works at various public events, assisting with such things as security, parking/traffic, and first aid.
Command Structure
Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue members make up various positions within the unit. Each of those positions has different roles and responsibilities, with greater or lesser authority. Law Enforcement Staff
