The Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad was founded November 15, 1950, in response to a Pan American Airways crash near Ketchikan. We operate under the direction of a 6-person Board of Directors. We have no paid staff, and do not charge for our services. We are funded by public and private donations and do not receive operational funding from City, Borough, State, or Federal sources. We utilize an all volunteer crew to provide search & rescue services to more than 5,000 sq. miles of southeast Alaska. Our area of operations include hundreds of small islands, inlets and bays and has several thousand miles of uninhabited shoreline. We operate using a team concept and are made up of 5 teams:

Search and Rescue, 30 members, ICS trained and under the control of an overhead management team. Trained in all aspects of ground search and rescue. The team will self deploy and arrive equipped as a self contained unit split into 3 - 6 man teams for short or long term deployments.

Mountain Rescue, 6 members ICS trained and under the control of a Rescue Captain/Safety officer. Trained in High/Low angle rescue and mountaineering. The team will self deploy and arrive equipped and ready to conduct technical rescue operations of 2 - 3 day durations. A Safety/Logistics/Communications officer from our overhead team will also deploy with the team.

Dive Rescue, 6 members ICS trained and under the control of a Rescue Captain/Safety officer. Trained in search, rescue and recovery with a 130 depth limit. The team will operate in wreck, lake, and in ice environments but will not enter caves. The team will self deploy and arrive equipped and ready to support rescue operations of 1 - 2 day duration..

K-9 Search, 7 members, ICS trained and under the control of a Rescue Captain/Safety officer. Currently have one certified air scenting dog, and five in training. The team will self deploy and arrive ready to support rescue operations of 2 - 3 day durations.

Electronic Tracking, 3 members ICS trained and under the control of a Rescue Captain/Safety officer. Respond as the primary search asset for DF operations. Capable of tracking all AM, FM, or Emergency Frequencies. The team will self deploy and arrive ready to support search operations of 2 - 3 day durations. Will also deploy our self contained communication package providing remote telephone, AM, FM, and HF radio capabilities.

Marine SAR Unit, 8 members ICS trained under the control of a Rescue Captain/Safety officer. Responding with licensed skippers and KVRS trained boat crews with:

$ 41' utility cutter with a 350 mile range and top speed of 26 knots, capable of medium weather SAR, firefighting, medical evacuation, towing, and de-watering operations. $ 22' light duty dive rescue vessel with a 250 mile range and top speed of 50 knots, capable of light weather SAR and rapid response in support of dive operations.

KVRS is self dispatched and works closely with the AST, USCG, and the USFS. We are a participant in our local community disaster plan. We own and operate a mobile communications unit capable of multi frequency disaster communications, and stand watch as part of the Emergency Radio Relay Net providing world wide emergency communications.

We operate 24 hr. radio watches on VHF 16, and our volunteers are tasked with over 2,500 man-hours, in an average of 20 search and rescue operations a year.