Search, Rescue & Missing Person Awareness Essentials™

What you will learn

This program has four parts. By the end of each part, you should be able to:

Part 1: Foundations of Search, Rescue & Missing Person Awareness

• Explain the foundations of search and rescue operations and missing person awareness.
• Differentiate common missing person case types and risk factors.
• Describe the importance of rapid reporting and accurate initial information gathering.
• Recognize core search methods, team roles, safety practices, and communication principles.
• Identify technologies, prevention strategies, and community preparedness measures used in search operations.
• Interpret ethical, legal, and emotional considerations through real-world search case examples.

Part 2: Search Planning, Rescue Operations & Emergency Response

• Explain how search operations are organized and prioritized within an incident structure.
• Describe the purpose of the Incident Command System and the roles of major command functions.
• Identify common search strategies and select appropriate patterns for different scenarios.
• Use awareness-level navigation concepts to interpret maps, coordinates, terrain, and route plans.
• Recognize common environmental, medical, and operational hazards that affect search and rescue activities.
• Summarize how documentation, reporting, team coordination, and safety support effective search operations.

Part 3: Specialized Search Operations, Disaster Response & Community Preparedness

• Describe search considerations for vulnerable populations and explain how behavior, communication needs, and safety factors can influence search awareness.
• Differentiate major K-9 search disciplines and summarize how handlers, dogs, and operational limits affect search effectiveness.
• Explain how drones, mapping tools, locator technologies, and emerging innovations may support search operations while recognizing their limitations.
• Identify common hazards, coordination challenges, and awareness-level response considerations across major disaster scenarios.
• Summarize community preparedness, missing-person awareness, family support, media communication, volunteer awareness, and ethical principles that support safer outcomes.
• Apply lessons learned from historic incidents and community safety initiatives to strengthen prevention-minded public awareness.

Part 4: Prevention, Survival, Recovery & Future Preparedness

• Develop basic personal, family, and community emergency preparedness plans.
• Recognize survival priorities and safer decision-making in common emergency situations.
• Promote prevention and safety strategies for outdoor users, children, seniors, and other vulnerable groups.
• Explain ethical, technological, and community-support considerations in search and rescue awareness.
• Apply course concepts to realistic case studies and public-safety scenarios.
• Identify volunteer and career pathways related to search, rescue, and emergency support.

Program details

• Self-paced online program for healthcare professionals
• Program length: 10 hours, in four parts
• Includes graded assessments you must pass to complete the program
• Earn a downloadable Certificate of Completion upon successful program completion—ideal for documenting professional development and submitting to your employer for potential reimbursement
• Each certificate has a verification ID that employers can check at nahcp.com/verify

Program length describes the length of the program, not a number of continuing-education credits. Check with your employer or licensing board before submitting a program for credit or reimbursement.