What Is a Knowledge Base?
A knowledge base is a centralized repository of information, facts, and expertise related to a particular subject, profession, or organization. It serves as a structured source of reference, designed to help individuals find answers, solve problems, and make informed decisions. In professional settings, a knowledge base may include guidelines, best practices, policies, frequently asked questions (FAQs), manuals, research articles, and other relevant documents.
For example, in a healthcare setting, the knowledge base might contain medical protocols, drug information, and clinical guidelines. In customer support, it may provide troubleshooting guides and product documentation. The primary goal of a knowledge base is to enable efficient access to reliable information, promote consistency, and support ongoing learning.
What Is Scope of Practices?
The scope of practices refers to the boundaries and range of activities that professionals are legally authorized, competent, and qualified to perform within their field. Scope of practice is often defined by regulatory bodies, licensing boards, and professional organizations to ensure safety, quality, and accountability in service delivery.
For instance, in nursing, the scope of practice outlines the procedures, actions, and processes that nurses are permitted to carry out, such as administering medication, performing assessments, and providing patient education. These boundaries are established based on education, training, certification, and experience, and may vary by state, country, or specialty.
For SAR, adhering to scope of practice is crucial for maintaining professional standards, protecting subjects, and avoiding legal or ethical violations.
Key Differences
• Knowledge Base: Focuses on providing information and resources for reference, learning, and problem-solving.
• Scope of Practices: Defines specific activities and responsibilities a professional is authorized to perform.
• The knowledge base supports the scope of practice by supplying the necessary information and guidelines to perform tasks safely and effectively.
Both the knowledge base and scope of practices are essential elements in professional environments. The knowledge base ensures access to accurate information, while the scope of practice safeguards clients and practitioners by clearly outlining permissible actions and responsibilities.
This Knowledge Base is foundational to developing a meaningful training curriculum for search and rescue. This is an attempt to gather information from multiple sources (experience SAR practitioners, manuals, and case studies) to define what knowledge and skills are needed for a SAR practitioner.
Here we use a hierarchical approach to help organize an extensive amount of information. We start with five core functions:
• Basic and Shared Skills: Here are the basic skills needed to deploy on a mission and those that are common to most functions of SAR.
• Search Skills: Simply the knowledge and skills needed to participate in a search mission.
• Rescue Skills: The skills needed to perform rescues missions.
• Command and Control Skills: The skills needed to oversee all types of missions encountered.
• Support Skills: The skills needed to keep SAR personnel in the field.
We define a Knowledge Base and Scope of Practices to identify for the team member what is expected of them as far as skills and knowledge required and to define training criteria for infernal certification.
Internal Certification
Internal certification for wilderness SAR refers to a qualification process conducted within an organization, such as a search and rescue (SAR) team, agency, or volunteer group. Unlike external certifications that are issued by national or regional accrediting bodies, internal certification is designed, managed, and awarded by the organization itself. The purpose is to ensure that team members meet specific standards of knowledge, skills, and readiness required for effective participation in wilderness SAR operations.
Key Features of Internal Certification
• Organization-Specific Standards: The criteria and training requirements are tailored to the unique needs, terrain, and operational protocols of the organization.
• Practical Skills Assessment: Members are typically evaluated on core competencies such as navigation, survival, first aid, communication, and search techniques relevant to wilderness environments.
• Continuous Training: Internal certification programs often include ongoing training, drills, and periodic re-evaluation to ensure skills remain current and effective.
• Team Readiness: The process helps the organization verify that all certified members are prepared to respond safely and efficiently to real-world SAR missions.
• Not Always Recognized Externally: While internal certification demonstrates competence within the organization, it may not be formally recognized by outside entities unless the standards closely align with national or state guidelines.
Common Components of Internal Certification Programs
• Classroom Instruction: Covering SAR theory, protocols, and emergency response procedures.
• Field Training: Hands-on practice in wilderness settings, simulating real rescue scenarios.
• Written and Practical Exams: Testing knowledge and abilities in areas such as map reading, radio communication, and medical response.
• Teamwork Exercises: Emphasizing collaboration, leadership, and safety in group operations.
• Certification Review: Regular assessment by senior team members or trainers to validate ongoing competence.
Internal certification helps SAR teams maintain high standards, promote safety, and build trust among members. It allows organizations to customize training to their operational environment and ensures that all responders are equipped with the necessary skills for wilderness emergencies. For volunteers and professionals alike, internal certification is a vital part of maintaining readiness and enhancing the effectiveness of search and rescue operations.
Areas of Studies
Under each core function the SAR Knowledge Base is organized into Areas of Studies. Each area is divided into Subjects with each Subject further separated into Topics. Training and testing criteria can be found within a Topic. This is a hierarchical approach.
There are currently 11 Areas of Study.
1 Communications: This involves radio communication and reporting procedures. Every other area of study requires the ability to communicate.
2 Health & Wellbeing: Here is the skill needed to keep a search/rescuer in the field: Basic Life Support, Personal Preparedness, and Wilderness Survival.
3 Land Navigation: Even if you are going no further than the command post you will need to be able to read a map in some form and navigate.
4 Legal Issues: Not much emphasis is placed on this area. However, a team member needs to understand the legal implication of our activities such as confidentiality and crime scenes.
5 Search: This, along with Rescue, is the core of what we need to know. All other areas of study support this. This area is divided into subjects: Search technique, Containment, Tracking, and others.
6 Rescue: This other core function is divided into: Stretcher Transportation, Technical Rope Rescue, and Swift Water Rescue.
7 Command and Control: Here is how to manage numerous groups dispersed in function and area.
8 Logistical Support: Here are the skills needed to keep teams in the field.
9 Aviation: These are the skills needed to interact with aviation support.
10 Emergency Assistance: On rare occasions our assistance is needed in emergency situations.
11 Basic SAR: a formal class required by Arizona State for SAR personnel.
Each of these areas has a dedicated page.