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Utah Issues

Search & Rescue

A KUED original production, Search & Rescue offers a behind-the-scenes look at Utah’s first-responder Search and Rescue volunteers. See how life and death experiences have shaped the lives of these brave men and women.

When Brenda Beene was 15, she and two cousins decided to hike up a waterfall to watch the sunset. While scaling the slippery precipice, one of her cousins lost his footing, and fell off the rock face. “The fear was indescribable,” says Beene. “It was paralyzing. I sat there, next to his lifeless body, for what seemed like forever. The sun started to go down, and then I saw two faces come up over the ledge. It was Search and Rescue. I was so grateful.”

Search & Rescue follows search and rescue volunteers who confront life and death experiences that have shaped their lives

Becoming a SAR member is a rigorous process. After being selected from a pool of applicants, interviewees must provide their own gear, means of travel, and take a yearlong course to learn the skills required to be a part of the team, followed by a strenuous final test.

That feeling that you get when you help that person, when you bring a person down off a mountain and the family is standing there, waiting. You feel like you made a difference today. 

Toby Norton, Utah County Search and Rescue