SAR OPS // Search & Rescue · Urban, Wilderness, Swift Water
Who We Are

No one gets left behind

A nonprofit, 100% volunteer search and rescue organization specializing in wilderness search, technical rope rescue, mountain terrain operations, urban search environments, disaster response support, and missing person missions.

100% Volunteer 501(c)(3) Nonprofit California & Arizona
Our Mission

To provide expert, relentless search and rescue services with a focus on professionalism, safety, and compassion

We serve with the belief that no one should ever feel lost, forgotten, or without hope. Our work is not driven by publicity. It is driven by a commitment to being there when it counts, for the missing, and for the communities that depend on us.

SAR OPS team members in front of command vehicle
Our Story

Built by experience. United by mission.

SAR OPS was built on decades of combined experience in emergency response, rope rescue, and wilderness search operations. Though recently rebranded as SAR OPS, our foundation was laid through years of regional response work.

Our team has completed dozens of rescue missions and logged hundreds of training hours, all while maintaining close working relationships with local and state emergency agencies. We operate across urban, wilderness, and swift water environments, ready to deploy wherever the call comes from.

We know what is at stake when someone goes missing. That is why we train relentlessly, so that when the page comes through, we are already prepared.

100%
Volunteer Powered
1000+
Training Hours
24/7
Mission Ready
What Guides Us

Six principles. Every call

These are the standards we hold ourselves to before, during, and after every operation we run.

01
Integrity

We do what is right on every call, whether or not anyone is watching.

02
Service

We answer because someone needs us, not for recognition.

03
Excellence

We train to meet or exceed national standards, and then keep training.

04
Teamwork

No operator works alone. Every rescue is a coordinated effort.

05
Resilience

Hard terrain, long hours, bad weather. We finish what we start.

06
Compassion

Every person we reach is treated with dignity and care.

The Standard We Hold

Trained to national standards

Our operators train and certify to recognized national search and rescue standards.

Operational Framework
ICS / NIMSIncident Command System / National Incident Management System
FEMAFederal Emergency Management Agency
DHSU.S. Department of Homeland Security
Search & Rescue Qualifications
NASARNational Association for Search & Rescue
SARTECHSearch & Rescue Technician · NASAR
Technical Rescue Training
RRORope Rescue Operations
RRTRope Rescue Technician
SWRSwift Water Rescue
Medical Qualifications
WFRWilderness First Responder
EMREmergency Medical Responder
EMTEmergency Medical Technician
Operating Framework

Operating within the national response framework

SAR OPS trains and operates using the Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS), allowing our personnel to integrate seamlessly into larger emergency operations and mutual-aid environments.

Operators

The team you can rely on

A standing roster of trained, certified volunteers across field operations, technical rope, wilderness response, and medical leadership.

Sheldon Holland Commander
Oz Kaynan Operations Chief
Yoni Dotan
Yoni Dotan Medical Officer
Andrew Yasso Search Team Leader
Lara Feghali Logistics Officer
Gianluca Salvatore Field Team Leader
Jeni Kaynan Swift Water Coordinator
SAR OPS

Headlines

Art of Rebounding Podcast
Petzl Interview
Join the Mission

Relentless in response.
Relentless in rescue

Whether you want to serve as a volunteer, partner as an agency, or fund the gear that goes into the field, there is a place for you on this team.