Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the Niagara Frontier Search and Rescue Team (NFSAR).  Our team is composed of dedicated men and women committed to providing Western NY and surrounding areas with an organization of trained search and rescue volunteers.  Our objective and purpose is to:

• Provide trained search and rescue personnel for lost person incidents,
• Assist with technical rural or backcountry rescue and evacuation of injured or lost individuals from rough terrain or hazardous backcountry environments if requested,
• Develop specially trained personnel to respond to K-9, Technical Rope and Winter/Cold Weather search and rescue operations,
• Disseminate information and conduct training programs for NFSAR team members and others concerning outdoor safety and search and rescue operations, and
• Associate with similar organizations in Western New York and the State of New York for the furtherance of the objectives of the Organization.

Similar to other volunteer organizations, members bear the cost of equipment, uniforms and travel, as well as volunteer their time for meetings, training events and responding to team activations.  While this is a volunteer organization, attendance and participation in training events and searches are very important.  Our members are expected to meet specific baseline requirements, including:

• Attendance of no less than two (2) regular organizational meetings
• Attendance of no less than four (4) regular team training events
• Being capable of meeting and maintaining the minimum NFSAR physical fitness readiness standard consisting of successfully hiking 2 miles on level terrain with a 25lb pack in 30 minutes or less (U.S. Forest Service Wildland Firefighter Work Capacity Test – Moderate)
• Remaining current with their required certifications, and
• Providing status responses to all team activation alerts. 

To apply for membership, you must be at least twenty-one (21) year of age and a citizen of the United States.  For your application to be processed, you will need to include copies of the following certifications:

• Current (minimum) Basic CPR Certification
• Current (minimum ) Wilderness First Aid Certification
• Certificate demonstrating completion of the on-line FEMA training course ICS-100 (Introduction to Incident Command System), and
• Certificate demonstrating completion of the on-line FEMA training course ICS-700 (National Incident Management System – An Introduction)

Currently, NFSAR is not accepting new candidates for membership.  We anticipate that the next prospective member basic training course will begin in January of 2013.  Prospective members go through an approximately 10 month training curriculum consisting of classroom and field trainings before they start participating with the rest of the team.  If you are interested in participating in our 2013 class, we recommend that you start attending our once-quarterly evening classroom trainings that will be held in February, May, August and November.  These training events will be held on the second Thursday of those months at the Erie County Fire Training Center from 6:30 to 9:00 PM.  The February meeting topic is Cold Weather Safety and Survival.  The downloadable team training calendar on our website will soon be updated with information regarding topics for the remaining events.

Depending upon the needs of the team, a class of 6-10 people is selected from those interviewed.  The team looks for individuals who wish to help others and have the time and desire to contribute and are in good physical condition.  No special skills are required.  Attitude is much more important than skill level, and specific skills needed to participate will be taught.

Team membership applications will be available for download and submission by prospective candidates from September 1st, 2012 to October 31st.  The Membership Committee will screen candidate applications at the November 15th Board of Director’s meeting and candidates will be voted on by the corporate membership at the December 12th regular organizational meeting.

So, if you are interested, have support from your family and a willingness to learn new things, feel free to attend a meeting and meet the group.  We hope to see you there!