Search and Rescue teaches you how teams find people who are lost or hurt. You will learn how to plan trips so you don't get lost, how search teams organize, and how to use maps and GPS to search an area. These skills help you and others stay safe outdoors.
Why it's worth it
When someone goes missing outdoors, volunteers with maps, radios, and trained dogs go looking, often through the night. Search and Rescue shows you how they think and work, and teaches you to plan trips so you're far less likely to be the one they're searching for. You'll practice navigation, teamwork, and staying calm under pressure, and many SAR teams welcome trained youth members as you get older.
Start this week
- Write a simple trip plan for your next outing: where you're going, who's with you, when you'll be back, and what to do if you're late. Leave it with a parent.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Search and Rescue counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Clip a whistle to your pack and practice three short blasts, the common distress signal.
- Have a parent help you look up which agency handles searches where you live, often the sheriff's office, and whether a volunteer SAR team is part of it.
Stay safe
- Practice searches happen in a known, safe area with clear boundaries, a buddy system, and adult supervision.
- Dress for the weather, carry water, and stop if anyone gets too hot, cold, or tired; searchers look after themselves first.
Requirements · 8
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab) (updated 2025).
Note: Youth may not fly in aircraft as part of a search and rescue mission (Guide to Safe Scouting prohibited activity)
- Requirement 1
Hazards and first aid
Tips for this section: List hazards searchers face, like weather and rough ground, and the gear that keeps them safe.
- Requirement 1a
Show or explain how to prevent and give first aid for each of these problems that searchers or lost people might face during a search
- Requirement 1a1
Dehydration
- Requirement 1a2
Heatstroke
- Requirement 1a3
Hypothermia
- Requirement 1a4
Shock
- Requirement 1a5
Blisters
- Requirement 1a6
Eye injuries
- Requirement 1a7
Sprained ankles and knees
- Requirement 1a8
Insect bites from chiggers, ticks, mosquitoes, and biting gnats
- Requirement 1a9
Bee stings
- Requirement 1a10
Spider bites
- Requirement 1a11
Scorpion stings
- Requirement 1a12
Bites from wild mammals
- Requirement 1a13
Venomous snakebites
- Requirement 1b
Explain how the Scout Basic Essentials protect you from outdoor hazards and keep a lost Scout safe until help arrives
- Requirement 1c
Discuss how the safety gear in a SAR team member's field pack deals with the hazards of search work
- Requirement 2
Staying found and getting found
Tips for this section: Write a trip plan before your next outing and leave it with a parent. Practice signaling with a whistle.
Example for this section: Say you're separated from your group on a hike. Talk through what staying found looks like: stop, stay put, stay warm, and signal. Show how you'd use a whistle, a bright bandanna, or a mirror to help searchers spot you.
- Requirement 2a
Explain how using the buddy system and leaving a trip plan help keep Scouts from getting lost, and help searchers find them if they do
- Requirement 2b
Explain how weather changes over the seasons and through the day affect trip plans
- Requirement 2c
Explain and show signals a lost Scout could use to let a ground, air, or water search team know where they are
- Requirement 2d
Demonstrate signaling with a signal mirror
- Requirement 2e
Explain how a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) sends a distress signal and what the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) does with it
- Requirement 3
Map, compass, and counselor-approved GPS
Tips for this section: Practice with a map and compass on a troop hike, then try the same route with a GPS.
Example for this section: On a map of a local park, draw a search area and divide it into smaller segments. Take compass bearings along one segment's boundary, then walk it with a GPS to compare your track with the map.
- Requirement 3a
On the map, point out and explain its 5 D's: Date, Description, Details, Distance, and Direction or Declination
- Requirement 3b
Pick a spot on the map and record its latitude, longitude, altitude, and US National Grid coordinates, then explain how those systems differ
- Requirement 3c
Orient the map, then take a bearing from one spot to a second spot on it. Estimate how far apart they are and describe the ground in between
- Requirement 3d
Mark a pretend place last seen, then show an area on the map that natural or human-made boundaries could help contain
- Requirement 4
Incident Command System
Tips for this section: Ask a local sheriff's office or SAR team which agencies help in your area and how they work together.
Example for this section: Draw a simple chart of how a search might be organized under the Incident Command System: an incident commander at the top, then operations, planning, logistics, and finance. Add which local agencies might fill each role.
- Requirement 4a
Explain the setup of a local Incident Command System (ICS) and how it is like or unlike the patrol method in Scouting
- Requirement 4b
Explain how agencies in your community train for and run search and rescue operations
- Requirement 5
Search and rescue teams
Tips for this section: Talk with a SAR volunteer about the different team roles, like ground teams or dog teams.
- Requirement 5a
Explain what a search and rescue team is officially responsible for
- Requirement 5b
Explain how wilderness, urban, and water search and rescue differ
- Requirement 5c
Name four kinds of SAR teams and describe when each would be called in
- Requirement 6
How searches work
Tips for this section: Learn how searchers think about where lost people tend to go, and use that to plan a search.
Example for this section: Pick a type of lost person, like a young child or a hiker, and explain where searchers would look first and why. For example, young children often hide or stay close, so searchers check small spaces and call their name.
- Requirement 6a
Explain how a search is different from a rescue
- Requirement 6b
Explain how PLS (place last seen) differs from LKP (last known point)
- Requirement 6c
Explain why good communication is so important during search and rescue
- Requirement 6d
Explain how predicted lost person behavior shapes the search plan for a young child, for a teenager, and for an adult
- Requirement 6e
Explain what each of these search terms means
- Requirement 6e1
Evaluating search urgency
- Requirement 6e2
Establishing confinement
- Requirement 6e3
Scent item
- Requirement 6e4
Area air scent dog
- Requirement 6e5
Briefing and debriefing
- Requirement 6e6
Clue awareness
- Requirement 6e7
Evidence preservation
- Requirement 6e8
Tracking a subject
- Requirement 6e9
Locating a subject using attraction
- Requirement 6e10
Hasty search
- Requirement 6e11
Trail sweep search
- Requirement 6e12
Grid search
- Requirement 7
Plan and run a practice search with a team
Tips for this section: Plan the practice search with your counselor and patrol, using a safe area and a buddy system.
Example for this section: With your patrol or family as the team, pick a scenario, like a hiker overdue in a park, and write a hasty-search plan. Lead a PAUSE briefing on hazards and the gear everyone carries, run the search while an adult places clue objects along the trails, then debrief on what worked and what you'd change.
- Requirement 7a
Form a practice search team of Scouts, family, or friends. Choose a pretend SAR scenario from the pamphlet or one your counselor approves
- Requirement 7b
Using the scenario details, draft a hasty-search Incident Action Plan (IAP)
- Requirement 7c
Before searching, lead a PAUSE briefing to go over hazards, safety issues, the Scout Basic Essentials each person and the team carry, and other gear
- Requirement 7d
Carry out the practice search with your team
- Requirement 7e
Afterward, debrief with your team about how the search went, any problems, which tactics worked or didn't, and ideas to do better
- Requirement 8
Careers. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Ask a SAR volunteer or ranger how they got involved and what training they needed.
- Requirement 8a
Explore careers in search and rescue or emergency management. Research one for its education and training, costs, job outlook, pay, duties, and advancement (with a parent's or guardian's OK, by searching, interviewing a pro, or visiting a workplace). Discuss your findings and its appeal with your counselor
- Requirement 8b
Explore how this badge's skills could help you volunteer with a ski patrol, wilderness rescue team, or disaster relief team. Research training, expenses, and supporting groups, and discuss short- and long-term goals with your counselor
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A search and rescue team training or open house
You can see the gear, radios, maps, and sometimes search dogs, and hear how a real search runs.
How: Have your leader contact the sheriff's office or local SAR team and ask if your troop can attend a demonstration or invite a member to a meeting.
An emergency operations center or county emergency management office
This is where agencies coordinate big incidents, and staff can explain incident command in action.
How: Have a leader call the county emergency management office and ask whether they offer tours for youth groups.
Where it can lead
- SAR volunteerMost U.S. ground search teams are volunteers who train regularly and respond when called.
- Park rangerOften leads searches in parks and teaches visitors how to stay safe.
- Emergency managerPlans for disasters and coordinates agencies during big incidents.
- Coast Guard or military rescue specialistTrains to find and rescue people on land, water, and from the air.
- Sheriff's deputy or game wardenLaw enforcement agencies often lead searches in their areas.
Ask yourself
- What do you already do on trips to make sure someone knows where you are?
- During the practice search, what made teamwork easy or hard?
- How would you stay calm if you realized you were lost?
- What surprised you about how many people and agencies work together on a search?
- What SAR skill would you like to keep building after this badge?
Good questions to ask a SAR volunteer
- What happens in the first hour after a call comes in about a missing person?
- What's one search you'll always remember, and what did it teach you?
- What skills or training does a new team member need?
- How do search dogs and their handlers train?
- What could hikers do that would make your job much easier?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Invite a local search and rescue team to demonstrate their gear and methods.
- Set up the practice search in a familiar, safe area with clear boundaries and adult supervision.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- Local sheriff's office or SAR team — Can share how searches are run in your area.
- FEMA (opens in a new tab) — Information on the Incident Command System.
- FEMA Emergency Management Institute (opens in a new tab) — Free online courses, including an intro to the Incident Command System.
- Ready.gov (opens in a new tab) — How to make a plan and an emergency kit for your family.
Pairs well with
Helps you earn
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.