New Member Info

From ASAR-Wiki

New Member Introduction to Atalaya Search and Rescue Team

Atalaya Search & Rescue welcomes new members to our team!

We have meetings every other Wednesday at St. John's College (ESL 111) at 6:30 pm. St. John's College is located at 1160 Camino De Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe, NM.

We are a jovial bunch of SAR volunteers, as you will soon come to know! There's nothing like wandering around in the wilderness with a bunch of good friends, wearing a headlamp and radio, carrying a 30 pound pack, all the while calling out someone's name who might be lost. We also perform rescues, be it in the trees, on the snow, or even on the rock, day and night. We welcome people with backcountry experience, but no experience is required to join the team, just some enthusiasm, a flexible schedule, and a basic level of commitment.

New members to our team will be assigned a sponsor who can show you the ropes and help you obtain all of the necessary gear and information. If you don’t already know someone on the team, John Becker is the point of contact for new members, and will act as your sponsor. You can contact John by email: johndbecker@hotmail.com.

Anyone is invited to attend a meeting, however, you must attend three meetings before you may you can become a Support Member. You may then have access to password protected pages on our website, you can get on the Roster, and you may sign up to receive and send team communications. Before you may go into the field on a training or mission, you are required to pass a Field Certification Test & Pack Check.

The Field Certification Test is a State Search and Rescue certification to evaluate the readiness of SAR personnel to operate safely, carry out basic search techniques, and to properly perform other standard SAR incident activities. You can acquire more information and testing dates by visiting the following website: http://www.nmesc.org.

You may participate in ASAR team trainings and go out on SAR missions only after you have done a Field Certification Test, and it is strongly suggested that you complete this State test within 6 months of initiation into Atayala Search & Rescue.

You will find out more about our team by attending meetings, completing New Member Orientation (offered periodically), and asking lots of questions. It costs $50 a year to be a member of Atalaya SAR. For students, the fee is waived.

We look forward to meeting you!

Sincerely, John Becker President of Atalaya Search & Rescue