Ground Search & Rescue

Ground search and rescue is the search for persons who are lost or in distress on land or inland waterways. People may go missing for a variety of reasons. Some may disappear voluntarily, due to issues like domestic abuse. Others disappear for involuntary reasons such as mental illness, getting lost, an accident, death in a location where they cannot be found, or, less commonly, due to abduction. Ground search and rescue missions that occur in urban areas should not be confused with "urban search and rescue", which in many jurisdictions refers to the location and extraction of people from collapsed buildings or other entrapments.

Search and Rescue agencies may contain small specialist teams for executing operations where there are specific environmental risks, examples include Swift water rescue, flood response, technical rope rescue, confined space rescue, over-snow rescue, and thin ice rescue.

Aerial Search & Rescue

From an aerial perspective, S&R Helicopters and Drones provide a wider view of the search area. A tree or bush might obscure a subject from a rescuer on foot. On the other hand, an aerial view provides greater visibility, which increases the probability of finding the subject.