New Mexico Search and Rescue Council

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Public Relations

MEDIA GENERAL INFORMATION

For more information than can be found in the website, please contact the NMSARC Public Information Officer.
For information from the New Mexico State Police, please call: (505) 827-3349 or 505 827-3430.
For Information from the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, please call: (505) 827-3361

The New Mexico Search and Rescue Council has provided a press forum as a means for interested news organizations to obtain press releases and other information relevant to wilderness search and rescue in New Mexico. If you are a member of the media with an interest in learning more about search and rescue, please join our press forum.

MEDIA ON-SITE AT SAR MISSIONS

Response time for search and rescue resources is normally one to two hours, sometimes longer. When responders arrive at the incident base, activity becomes intense. The activities around an incident base may seem confusing at first but despite this appearance, the mission is organized and is unfolding.

On-site media relations are managed by a designated Public Information Officer (PIO), who is responsible, upon request, for providing accurate information without jeopardizing the privacy of the subjects and volunteers. The PIO, with access to the latest information available from the IC, is better informed than individual searchers or search teams, who are not aware of the mission’s complete complexity.

With multiple search teams being dispatched, the IC and the incident base staff must deal with myriad critical details. Responsible for both the effectiveness of the Search Plan and the safety of sometimes dozens of searchers, the IC and on-site personnel should not be interviewed as news sources. Instead, ask for the mission’s PIO (However, if no PIO has been assigned, the IC will handle that responsibility).

At the search staging area, volunteer teams will be organizing their gear, synchronizing radios and GPS navigation units, and departing as rapidly as possible after being given a search assignment. Sometimes deployed before a PIO is available, they will not be available for interviews. They will have been instructed to refer media inquiries to the PIO.

Join the NMSARC Speaker's Bureau

You can help share the mission of NMSARC by joining the NMSARC Speaker's Bureau. Details here.

DOWNLOADABLE PDFS

Please browse the publications listed below for further information about our organization and wilderness search and rescue in New Mexico.