Wilderness Safety Education

GCSAR’s Preventive Search and Rescue (PSAR) program is dedicated to providing wilderness safety education programs to the public.

If you wish to schedule a presentation with Garfield County Search and Rescue, contact the Public Education/Outreach Coordinator with this email link: Email Presentation Request.

Please note, Presentations are based on staffing availability and we cannot guarantee to meet all requests.

Presentations

Garfield County Search and Rescue provides PSAR presentations on various wilderness safety topics for ages 3 years old to adults. The presentations are from one to two hours in length and are FREE OF CHARGE. Please contact us at least a month in advance to make sure an instructor is available. Evenings and weekends are the best times to schedule presentations.

Presentations include:

  • Lost But Found Safe and Sound

Teaches children 3 to 12 years old how to prevent getting lost and what to do if they should become lost. Handouts summarize the program and explain to adults what to do if a child becomes lost. Many of our team members are also search and rescue dog handlers and incorporate the dogs into these programs.

  • Wilderness Safety for Parents and Adults

Teaches parents, camp counselors, and other adults how to prepare children for outdoor activities. Safety tips for adults to consider when they are with children and fun activities for kids to keep them with the group and prevent them from wandering away. Important facts on what to do should someone get lost and ways to help searchers and dog handlers locate the lost person more quickly.

  • Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, the Boys and Girls Club, other youth groups

GCSAR teaches navigation, shelter building and fire starting techniques, avalanche safety, and other wilderness skills to the above organizations. Presentations are focused on the children’s experience level.

  • Wilderness Safety Programs for Adults

Instructors will talk with the contact person and create a wilderness safety presentation to meet the needs of the organization. There are numerous topics such as Avalanche Safety, Hypothermia and First Aid, Winter Safety, Mountain Safety, and Wilderness Survival.

  • Garfield County Search and Rescue

This is a presentation about GCSAR, who we are and what we do for the community. Some of the topics discussed are how to join the team, training, who is legally responsible for SAR, missions, resources used during a mission, who and when to call for help, costs, Colorado State SAR Fund.