Welcome, we are glad you have come to visit us here or on our Website. Our Web presence is not just an information site to tell you who we are and how we operate, but it is also meant to be an interactive portal for news, best practices, equipment and a tool to reaching out to the global SAR community. Of course we will also be focused on providing education and prevention tips. If you have a comment - drop us a note we will get back to as soon as we can.
Penticton & District Search and Rescue is an accredited volunteer team of over 40 SAR para-professionals serving the local region. Penticton SAR or PENSAR is also part of a mutual aid alliance of South Okanagan Regional SAR Teams (SOSSAR) South Okanagan Similkameen Search and Rescue Association. PENSAR has the ability to provide a variety of search and rescue services via land-water and air.
We are headquartered in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada (49.4911° N, 119.5886° W) at the south end of Okanagan Lake. Our region is a well known tourism destination that boosts an abundance of outdoor recreational activities that include rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, mountain trekking, boating, skiing, snowshoeing and more, especially if you like sun, beaches, mountains and warm water.
In addition the South Okanagan boasts a robust wine industry with over 140 local wineries which attracts thousands of visitors from around the world who come to sample our wine, sun and scenery. As you can see we love our area, we are proud to be SAR members and serve others, and we are most thankful to our community who supports us.
With over 30 call outs a year our team specializes:
- Ground Search and Rescue
- Back country Medical Evacuation
- Technical Rope Rescue
- Swift water rescue
- Helicopter evacuation
- Prevention and education services.
All of our training curriculum and certification is provided through the Emergency Management Division of the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) on behalf of the BC Emergency Management Program.
If your community, school or business is interested in what we do or an ADVENTURE SMART Program Presentation just sent us a note on our contacts page to arrange for a presentation.
Follow us on Facebook and go to our links page for important information on how you can help yourself.
We also welcome contact with other SAR groups from around the world.
"PENSAR's goal is to continue to grow and innovate."