The reason most SAR personnel stop at the First Aid level is that more
advanced training is not made available to them.
One of the advantages of SAR teams being attached to the county Sheriff is
the potential for that agency providing instructors. Our county SAR Academy
"meet minimum First Aid" class is actually First Responder. Our instructor
is a Sgt who also teaches First Responder at the county Police Academy.
There is potential for any authorized SAR / MSAR team to make a deal with
local law enforcement, fire, EMS or whomever to provide very affordable
First Aid or First Responder training to the team. If the SAR organization
is non-profit, there is also potential to talk an individual professional
instructor into donating instructor time and use of materials as a
write-off.
Minimum expectation in SAR is for First Aid, but those interested should be
able to find an affordable method for First Responder training.