Colorado Search and Rescue Board
PO Box 631452
Highlands Ranch CO 80163
E-Mail: csrb@coloradosarboard.org

Who is CSRB?

The CSRB is the Colorado Search and Rescue Board. The CSRB is incorporated as a non-profit corporation in Colorado, whose objectives are:

• To provide and/or coordinate search and rescue services as requested by county sheriffs and others whose responsibilities include search and rescue.
• To provide a time and place for search and rescue organizations to meet and exchange ideas.
• To provide education opportunities for the search and rescue community.

The Colorado Search and Rescue Board meets those three objectives, by providing a point of contact for search and rescue matters on a state level. The board works closely with the State Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and fulfills several of OEM's statutory responsibilities regarding SAR. The CSRB maintains a roster of SAR resources throughout Colorado, and provides a Colorado Search and Rescue Coordinator, who is available 24 hours a day to assist local authorities in locating, and using additional or specialized resources.

The CSRB Board meets on a regular basis. The CSRB addresses issues of interest to the Colorado SAR Community. Issues such as the Colorado Search and Rescue Fund, have been addressed by the Board, and in cooperation with other groups such as the County Sheriffs, the CSRB has worked to make changes to improve the fund, and ensure that the individual SAR teams, and units throughout the State have input into the process.

In working towards ensuring that Colorado has the highest quality search and rescue teams, the CSRB spends considerable time and effort to provide training and educational opportunities to the SAR teams throughout the State. The board has subsidized several members to obtain specialized training and bring that information back to the local teams.

The Board presents several regular events to help in the training needs of local teams. These include the annual Colorado Search and Rescue Academy held in May of each year, and provides a wide variety of SAR skills and topics; the SAR Aviation program held in conjunction with the U.S. Military and Fort Carson, every other year to help train SAR providers in safe and effective use aviation resources in SAR missions; the Annual Breckenridge Avalanche Seminar geared specifically for SAR providers. The CSRB helps to promote numerous other training opportunities to the Colorado SAR community, these include Cave Rescue Trainings, SAR Dog trainings, water rescue courses, and many others.

The Board has helped to acquire the materials and instructor status to allow several national programs to be presented at low cost throughout the State. The CSRB presents these courses on a regular basis, any of these programs can be requested by any team or Sheriff in Colorado. These include the National Association of Search and Rescue's (NASAR) Managing the Search Function Course, recognized throughout the nation as the basic SAR managers course; the NASAR ICS courses: Incident Commander - SAR; Plans Section Chief - SAR.

The Board can find instructors that the local teams may need to help in specialized topics, or any SAR topics. CSRB has presented general SAR courses to teams, and can create specialized courses for teams when needed. The over-riding goal is to provide the highest level of instruction available at the lowest cost. Most SAR teams throughout the state are volunteer and have limited funding. CSRB has provided the national programs at half the cost of other operations by sharing the volunteer instructors of teams around the State.

CSRB also supports teams in their local public preventive search and rescue programs. The Board developed the Avalanche/Back Country Safety program, which provides materials local teams use to educate the public.

The Board provides a 24 hour Colorado Search and Rescue Coordinator to assist County Sheriff's during Search and Rescue operations. The Coordinator can assist in locating additional, or specialized resources. The Coordinators can assist in requesting Federal resources and are familiar with operating through the Federal/Military process. The Coordinators have a wealth of experience, and are a great source of information during missions to consult for ideas or suggestions. There is always a Coordinator available by calling 800-593-2772. The answering service will contact the on-duty SAR Coordinator and he or she will return your call within 15 minutes.

The overall goal of CSRB is to provide the best Search and Rescue available throughout the State of Colorado. The focus of our efforts is to do everything possible for the victims of SAR incidents. The victim is our highest priority.