2026 NASAR FUNSAR/SARTECH II + Wilderness First Aid

The National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) FUNSAR®/SARTECH II® + Wilderness First Aid course is an internally recognized standard for the foundation for search and rescue personnel. Designed for both volunteers and professionals, this intensive academy provides the knowledge and practical skills required to safely and effectively participate in wilderness search operations.

Students learn the principles of search management, land navigation, survival, lost person behavior, team operations, communications, clue awareness, evidence preservation, and field safety while deploying outdoors in the wilderness in realistic search scenarios. Successful completion prepares participants to function as basic operational members of a search team under the direction of an Incident Management Organization. This course includes classroom instruction, outdoor wilderness practical field exercise deployments, and preparation for the NASAR SARTECH II® certification examination, which consists of both written and practical skills assessment evaluations.

Whether your goal is to serve with a county search and rescue team, emergency management agency, fire department, law enforcement organization, mounted search team, K-9 unit, or volunteer SAR organization, FUNSAR®/SARTECH II® is the basic essential foundation upon which advanced search and rescue training is built.

This course is designed for responders who want to sharpen field skills, strengthen search strategy, and meet nationally recognized standards through NASAR. 

Plus...

Emergencies don't wait for an ambulance and neither do search and rescue personnel. The 16-hour Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course prepares students to recognize, assess, and manage medical emergencies when professional medical care may be delayed or unavailable. Designed for search and rescue personnel, outdoor professionals, emergency responders, and backcountry enthusiasts, this hands-on course emphasizes practical decision-making and patient care in remote environments. Students will receive instruction and practical skills training in:

Students who successfully complete the course will receive a Wilderness First Aid certificate meeting nationally recognized training standards, providing an essential medical foundation for search and rescue operations, disaster response, and wilderness activities.

• Introduction to Search and Rescue
• Search Team Operations
• Incident Command System (ICS)
• Wilderness Navigation
• Lost Person Behavior
• Clue Awareness and Evidence Preservation
• Survival and Personal Preparedness
• Search Tactics and Field Operations
• Communications
• Safety and Risk Management
• Practical Field Exercises
• Written and Practical Certification Preparation

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Meet Your NASAR Instructors:

Jimmie Canfield

Jimmie Canfield is one of the most experienced search and rescue professionals and instructors in the United States. With 49 years of search and rescue experience, including military service, Jimmie has dedicated his life to saving lives, mentoring rescuers, and advancing the profession. A Lifetime Member of the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), he has served the organization for more than three decades as a NASAR Instructor, Lead Canine Evaluator, former NASAR Board Director, and recipient of NASAR Instructor of the Year, recognizing his exceptional contributions to search and rescue education and professional development.For more than 30 years, Jimmie has instructed NASAR's FUNSAR®, SARTECH II®, SARTECH I®, and Managing a Lost Person Incident (MLPI) programs, preparing thousands of search and rescue professionals for the operational, leadership, and decision-making challenges they will encounter in the field.A nationally respected K9 specialist, Jimmie has spent over 35 years training and evaluating search dogs and has served as a NASAR Canine Evaluator for more than three decades. His expertise includes Area Search, Tracking and Trailing, Land Human Remains Detection (HRD), and Water Human Remains Detection (HRD) operations. Throughout his career, he has handled two operational HRD canines. His K9 Sassi deployed on approximately 200 missions, resulting in 168 successful finds, including one of the deepest documented water recoveries at approximately 120 feet. His second canine, Jocko, deployed on approximately 50 missions, achieving 38 successful finds.Jimmie served as Director of Operations for the Tennessee Search and Rescue Dog Association (TNSARDA) and has managed search operations throughout the United States. His operational deployments include the search for Natalee Holloway, as well as disaster response operations during Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Katrina. He has also instructed numerous Human Remains Detection seminars and possesses extensive experience in swiftwater rescue and high-angle rescue.In addition to his extensive SAR career, Jimmie served as a Rescue Swimmer for the canoe and kayak slalom events during the 1996 Summer Olympics on Tennessee's Ocoee River, providing swiftwater rescue coverage for Olympic athletes competing on one of the world's premier whitewater courses.Beyond technical rescue, Jimmie is an active member of Called 2 Rescue Ministries, continuing his lifelong commitment to faith, service, and helping others during times of crisis.Jimmie's career reflects a lifetime dedicated to leadership, professionalism, and service. His guiding principles have inspired generations of rescuers:"These things we do, so others may live.""The life you save today may be the person who saves your life tomorrow."

Brad Dennis

Retired U.S. Navy Master Chief | NASAR SARTECH I Instructor | MLPI Instructor | Missing Child Search Specialist | K-9 Trainer & Evaluator

Brad Dennis is a nationally recognized search and rescue leader, missing child specialist, instructor, and retired U.S. Navy Cryptologic Master Chief Petty Officer with more than 40 years of operational experience in search and rescue, disaster response, missing child investigations, and human trafficking operations.Brad currently serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Called2Rescue Ministries and Director of Search Operations for FREE International, where he leads The BIG Search, a nationwide initiative that mobilizes trained volunteers, churches, and law enforcement partners to locate missing and exploited children. Through these efforts, he has conducted or supported more than 1,000 missing child investigations across the United States and has helped recover abducted children while supporting efforts to dismantle human trafficking networks.A longtime leader within the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), Brad has served as a SARTECH I instructor, evaluator, and Managing the Lost Person Incident (MLPI) instructor. Throughout his career he has trained thousands of search and rescue professionals in search management, lost person behavior, disaster operations, K-9 deployment, and missing child response.Brad's operational experience spans major hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, criminal investigations, wilderness searches, and disaster deployments. He has served in leadership roles during responses to Hurricanes Erin, Opal, Georges, Ivan, Katrina, and Helene, as well as the Northridge Earthquake. Alongside his wife, Tammy, he has trained and deployed nationally certified Human Remains Detection (HRD) K-9 teams and continues to serve as a trainer and evaluator for the National Network of Canine Detection Services (NNCDS).Before dedicating himself full-time to search and rescue, Brad completed a distinguished 20-year career in the United States Navy, retiring as a Cryptologic Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9). His intelligence and counterterrorism background has strengthened his investigative approach to complex missing person cases and multi-agency operations.Brad has received numerous honors for his service, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner's Award, the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice Justice Award, the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking Freedom Award, the Polaris Star Award, and the Escambia County Sheriff's Office Civilian Service Medal. His work has been featured nationally on CNN, The Today Show, Dateline, MSNBC, and 48 Hours.Drawing on decades of operational experience, Brad brings students practical knowledge gained from thousands of real-world search incidents. His instruction emphasizes leadership, search strategy, interagency coordination, K-9 operations, and the commitment to bringing every missing person home.

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Meet Your Host

Laura Pettler & Associates founded the LPA International Forensics Institute (LPAIFI) in 2017 as it's educational program arm committed to advancing professional education through evidence-based training, interdisciplinary collaboration, and practical field instruction. By partnering with nationally recognized NASAR instructors, LPA aims to provide students with access to industry-leading education while expanding opportunities for search and rescue, mounted and K9 forensic response, and emergency services professionals.

About Laura Pettler & Associates

Laura Pettler & Associates (LPA) is an international, award winning, forensic death investigation consulting firm with multifaceted inventions, research, literary, and an education division dedicated to advancing evidence-based death investigation, forensic science, forensic psychology, mounted search and rescue, and professional training.

Founded in 2005 by internationally renowned forensic criminologist Dr. Laura Pettler, LPA provides investigative consulting, expert witness services, cold case review, crime scene reconstruction, staged murder resolution, forensic education, and specialized training for law enforcement, medicolegal death investigators, attorneys, mounted law enforcement professionals, civilian mounted volunteers, search and rescue personnel, and other public safety professionals.

Through the Laura Pettler & Associates International Forensics Institute (LPAIFI), its vast alliance of internationally recognized instructors, and its partnerships, LPA offers professional development programs that combine scientific research with practical field application. Courses are designed to provide students with the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and hands-on experience necessary to perform effectively in real-world operational environments.

Pettler's Mounted Forensic Operations System

LPA is home to Pettler’s Mounted Forensic Operations System (MFOS), an interdisciplinary training and assessment program for sworn and civilian mounted personnel. Grounded in the foundational principles of Pettler’s Forensic Horsemanship Equine Development Program, Pettler's Murder Room Death Investigation Method, Pettler's Research-Based Forensic Victimology, forensic science, and forensic psychology, the system brings together experts from multiple disciplines to enhance search, rescue, and recovery operations.

Meet Dr. Laura Pettler

Dr. Laura Pettler is a forensic criminologist, author, inventor, educator, and entrepreneur dedicated to advancing forensic science, death investigation, and search and rescue through innovation, research, and education. She is the founder and CEO of Laura Pettler & Associates (LPA), the Laura Pettler & Associates International Forensics Institute (LPAIFI), and Crossroads Ranch (XR) in Monroe, North Carolina.

Internationally recognized for her pioneering work in forensic victimology, staged murder reconstruction, homicide investigation, and investigative methodology development, Dr. Pettler is the inventor of the Kaleidoscope Crime Scene Reconstruction System, The Murder Room Method, Pettler's Research-Based Forensic Victimology, the Conflict-Resolution-Benefit Matrix, Pettler’s Chronology System, and other investigative frameworks used by law enforcement, attorneys, coroners, and death investigators worldwide. She has served as a District Attorney Investigator, a Deputy Coroner, the Deputy Coroner Commander of a mounted unit, licensed private investigator, expert witness, forensic consultant, and educator.

A recognized speaker and instructor, Dr. Pettler has presented at law enforcement conferences and training events internationally and throughout the United States for 25 years and has appeared since 2012 as a forensic expert on numerous national and international television networks. 

About Crossroads Ranch

Crossroads Ranch, located in Monroe, North Carolina, is the home of the Laura Pettler & Associates and serves as a premier training venue for forensic science, search and rescue, and equine education. The ranch features modern classroom facilities, varied terrain, wooded training areas, open fields, and realistic outdoor environments that provide an ideal setting for hands-on instruction and scenario-based training deployments across 500 acres. Designed to bridge classroom knowledge with practical application, Crossroads Ranch allows students to develop critical skills in realistic field conditions.

As the official training headquarters of LPAIFI, Crossroads Ranch is dedicated to providing high-quality education that prepares students to serve with professionalism, integrity, and confidence. Whether participating in forensic science programs, search and rescue academies, or specialized equine training, students receive immersive, experience-driven instruction from nationally recognized professionals committed to excellence in education and public service.

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