"SO OTHERS MAY LIVE"

Welcome!


​Whatcom County Search and Rescue Council incorporated in 1982 governing a 4x4 mobile unit and Bellingham Mountain Rescue technical rope rescue unit. We have grown to six units specializing in mobile emergency transport, evidence searches, wide range of communications, rope rigging rescue, patient packaging and pack out. Whatcom County Search and Rescue is a private organization activated by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management Whatcom County SAR units; provide technical consulting and assistance in the field of search and rescue to the Whatcom County Sheriff.
​WCSAR is a 501(c)3 organization and 100% funded by volunteers and donations from its community.

Mission Statement

​Whatcom County Search & Rescue Council (WCSAR) is committed to maintaining a constant state of readiness for search, rescue, recovery and incident response, while also promoting safety and outdoor education. WCSAR shall work in affiliation with state and local emergency management agencies utilizing the principles of the Incident Command System (ICS). WCSAR shall be comprised of a network of local SAR units comprised of trained and certified individual volunteers. In addition, the unit shall be a non-profit organization that is non-political, and non-partisan in character. WCSAR does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.
Whatcom County Search and Rescue Council
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Click on Unit Badges for links to their page 

​Whatcom County 4x4 Unit

Mobile Unit

Specializing in:
  • Transportation of search and rescue teams
  • Extreme weather other disaster situations
  • Equipment transport
  • Vehicle recovery
  • Wilderness / Urban searches
  • Evacuations
Equipment:
  • Winches and winch accessories
  • Radios
  • APRS Tracking
  • Chainsaw
  • On sight lighting
  • Commercial generators
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http://www.wc4x4sar.org/wwwww.wc4x4sar.org/
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​www.summittosound.org/

Summit to Sound

Ground Search & Specialized Teams​

Specializing in:
  • ATV
  • Ground searching
  • Evidence searching
  • Evacuations
  • Sandbagging
  • K-9 team (land and water), human remains detection
  • Equine team
  • Swift water
  • Medical (affiliated member of EMS Council)
  • Wilderness and rural and urban SAR
Equipment:
  • Boat (for water rescue)
  • ​Throw Bags
  • Patient packaging and packout
  • Rope rigging
  • Radios

Bellingham Mountain Rescue 
​
Technical Rescue

​Specializing in:
  • Technical rope rescue / recovery
  • Glacier rope rescue / recovery
  • Back country rescue / recovery
  • Wilderness SAR
  • Medical (affiliated member of EMS Council)
Equipment includes:
  • Rope rigging
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​bellinghammountainrescue.com/
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​www.wecg.org/

WECG (Whatcom Emergency Communications Group)

Emergency & Disaster Communications

​Provides:
County wide emergency radio communications in times of disaster or loss of conventional media.
Communication amateur radio license training for interested parties.
Training:
  • Communications (amateur and commercial)
  • Digital communications
Equipment includes:
  • Complete communications facility
  • Radios
  • Communications Van

Whatcom County Dive Rescue
​
Underwater Rescue

​Specializing in:
  • Diving in fresh and salt water
  • Underwater search and recovery
  • Underwater investigation
  • Underwater evidence search
Equipment includes:
  • ​Dive gear
  • Boats
  • Underwater communications
  • Underwater photography

Whatcom County Snowmobile

Specialized Snow Transport & Search

Specializing in:
  • Transportation of personnel and equipment
  • Avalanche searches
  • Patient packaging and transport
Equipment includes:
  • Personal survival gear
  • Snowmobiles
  • Other snow related equipment

Additional Equipment / Skills

Council Equipment

We have specialized equipment and skills within the Search and Rescue organization. Below are just a few.
  • Base Management
  • Base Security
  • Remote Scene Access
  • Communications
  • Crowd Management
  • Extrication
  • Scouting of scene or hazards
  • Hasty search
  • Landing Zone
  • ​Man Tracking
  • Medical support/Triage​ (First Aid, EMT, Dr, Nurses)
  • Pack out of subjects
  • Radio relay
  • Recovery
  • Road searching
  • Routing accessibility & assessment
  • Sandbagging
  • Scout for viable access points
  • Search
  • Hasty
  • Dogs (Air scent, trailing and HRD)
  • Wide Area Search
  • Scene Security
  • Subject Care
  • Subject sheltering
  • Subject transport
  • Transport equipment & personnel to scene
  • Vehicle recovery
  • Water Rescue Teams
  • Windshield survey

How we may help 

How we can help the community:
  •  Search for missing persons (Hikers, Hunters, Children, Elderly, ETC).
  • Rescue of stranded people (wilderness, rivers, bays, storms)
  • Emergency transport in severe weather 
  • Disasters
  • Safety Education
How can we help other agencies :
  • Additional man power
  • A wide range of communications
  • Scene Preservation
  • Containment
  • Equipment for a variety of situations on land or water
  • Evidence and missing persons search
©Copyright Notice: No materials on any of the Whatcom County Search and Rescue web pages may be copied without express written permission unless permission is clearly stated on the page.

Location

Hours of operation

​Whatcom County Search and Rescue Council and its Units are on call 24-7. Feel free to contact us with any questions someone will get back to you with a response. If this is an emergency, you or someone you know are lost and or missing and need help even if for a few hours. We need you understand time is of the essence in finding your loved one please call 911. For more information on how to contact us visit our contact page.
Our building is unstaffed 
Whatcom County Search and Rescue
1041 W Smith Rd
Bellingham WA 98226
(360) 384-6344 Answering machine
(360) 820-2045 - Council Chairman Ryan Johnson