WA State SAR Planning Unit
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide SAR Planning expertise and resources to assist local command staff during extended or complex SAR incidents. We are an all-volunteer unit, and can be requested by any Washington State county via the WA Emergency Management Department.
About WASSPU
Remote and on-scene planning resources utilizing sophisticated search theory.
Members
Our team is made up of volunteers with many years of search and rescue work.
Resources
Tools and resources we have developed from our knowledge and experience.
SAR Training
Classes and Presentations
In addition to the search planning work we do, we also provide educational services.
Online presentations on search theory:
- In 2020, in conjunction with Cascadia Search Dogs, we presented a 3 part online class on Search Theory for K9 Teams that had 95 participants including people from other parts of the world.
- In 2021, our Vice-president presented “Search Theory at 10,000 feet”.
We also do training on the use of SARTopo, a search mapping program used by SAR teams. We travel around the state to provide in-person training to SAR teams. We present at conferences as well as publish papers.
Latest Missions, Projects & News
We’re Getting Starlink!
Thank you to a grant from the Tulalip Tribes Charitable Contributions Fund we are getting a Starlink Internet Device. This will be incredibly helpful to us as we frequently operate in areas without cell service. With Starlink we will be able to connect our laptops to...
Recognition, Well Deserved
On September 17, 2022 WASSPU Members Guy Mansfield and Lauren Heitmann were recognized by the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office for their work on the Devil's Slide Mission in November, 2021. This mission was very large in scope and lasted 12 days. Lauren and Guy were...
2021 Year in Review
In 2021, the Washington State SAR Planning Unit supported 18 missions located in 8 different Washington counties and in all three Washington national Parks. 83% of these missions were in wilderness areas, and several of the mission spanned a large number of days. Over...
When is WASSPU Activated?
WASSPU is usually called in after the first operational period (24hr search day) if nothing has been found and the search planning needs to be more sophisticated. smaller rural counties often don’t have a lot of depth in the search teams so we are able to augment what they have with the work we do.
We specialize in:
- Providing remote or on-scene planning resources
- Recommending search planning strategies and tactics
- Providing technical search mapping services
- Applying modern search theory to extended search & rescue incidents.
Newsletter
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Our Work
WASSPU primarily provides sophisticated search planning services that utilize search theory, best practices for planning techniques, cell phone forensics, mapping and so much more.