Building Inclusive SAR Teams
Supporting your community through a diverse and resilient team culture.
By Lauren Skonieczny | June 24, 2025
With contributions from multiple PNWSAR volunteers.
It’s Pride Month! It’s also the start of the busiest season for many Search and Rescue (SAR) teams, as more people venture outdoors for camping, backpacking, mountaineering, and river trips.
This time of year often brings retention and team culture to the forefront of SAR leaders’ minds. New members are settling in, while others may become less active due to summer travel and events. Increasingly, teams are engaging in conversations about how to attract new members and create a team environment that encourages long-term commitment.
In a world where more and more young folks are identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community (including nearly 30% of gen Z), inclusivity and diversity have to be crucial components of these conversations if you want to build a resilient team.
Beyond just strict numbers, though, a diverse team also offers tremendous value both internally and to the public it serves. Diversity brings a broader range of perspectives, skills, and problem-solving strategies to complex, high-pressure scenarios. It also promotes inclusive communication, greater adaptability, and deeper community trust - all vital components of effective SAR work when interacting with the public.
Building a SAR team that is diverse and resilient is the best way to serve your community.
Photo: Rom Fotgrafo
“Diversity brings a broader range of perspectives, skills, and problem-solving strategies to complex, high-pressure scenarios. It also promotes inclusive communication, greater adaptability, and deeper community trust - all vital components of effective SAR work when interacting with the public.”
In honor of Pride month, we’re happy to share a few ways your team can build a strong, welcoming community.
Note: These tips are primarily written for folks who are looking to enhance their allyship in the SAR space. If you have an experience to share as a member of the LGBTQ+ SAR community and want to share your experience for a future post, please reach out to lauren@base-medical.com.
Be Ready to Listen
If you’re on a team that’s looking to welcome a greater diversity of voices from the LGBTQ+ community, the most meaningful thing you can do is to make space and listen.
Start with a foundation of genuine curiosity, humility, and respect. Don’t rush to satisfy your own need to understand - rather, focus on true connection and insight, while recognizing that someone else’s lived experience may be vastly different from your own.
Conversations about identity and individual life experiences may come up organically during missions or get-togethers, but we recommend that you build opportunities for this connection. Consider hosting a training or opening up a regular emotional resiliency gathering where folks can share openly in a safe, structured space.
When engaging in conversations around identity, it’s essential for privileged individuals (ie: folks who are heterosexual, cisgender, white, economically resourced, etc) to listen actively and openly, setting aside any impulses to explain, debate, or defend.
True listening means hearing not just the words, but the emotions and context behind them. It requires truly taking what you’re hearing on board without interrupting or redirecting the conversation toward your own experiences.
Equally important is resisting the urge to take the lead. Marginalized individuals should be the ones guiding these conversations, deciding what they wish to share, how much they want to say, and when they feel safe to say it. Trying to steer or frame others’ stories through your own lens or “relating in” (e.g., “that reminds me of an experience I had…”) and thereby shifting attention to yourself can unintentionally reinforce the very power dynamics these conversations are meant to address.
In meetings or gatherings where these conversations may take place, set ground rules for discussions or simply offer one-on-one opportunities to share in confidence. Ultimately, it’s not just about making room, but about cultivating trust and demonstrating through consistent action that your community is built for listening, learning, and valuing every voice.
Create Affinity Spaces
Affinity spaces or events - such as hikes or trainings specifically for women, gender diverse individuals, trans or queer folks, racial minorities, etc - can deeply change team culture for the better. These are environments where people feel they won’t be dismissed, tokenized, or exposed to retaliation for speaking honestly. Affinity events are often spaces where participants can creatively brainstorm and problem solve and feel empowered to refine new ideas to bring to their leadership.
Give team members opportunities to explore and grow in safe spaces. Affinity gatherings are a great way to foster new ideas and connections.
Photo: Noah Master
This is more than just anecdotal - extensive research shows that these spaces offer significant benefits. By creating supportive environments where underrepresented members can build confidence, develop technical skills, and foster leadership, teams can build deep resiliency. Affinity groups help mitigate the effects of stereotype threat and social isolation, leading to increased retention and performance.
Additionally, investing in these events is a bold and declarative statement by your team that you value a diversity of perspectives and that you are actively fostering a culture of inclusivity. By sharing these events proudly and publicly, it sends a signal to all prospective members that they’ll feel welcome in your community.
Consider building opportunities for affinity hikes or trainings into your calendar. To expand your reach and build in a recruiting component, you may even want to open these events to the public. This can be an opportunity for folks who are curious about your team to get to know other members in a welcoming environment.
In SAR, where physical and psychological demands are high, these spaces allow participants to ask questions freely, receive mentorship, and train without the pressure of gender-based scrutiny, ultimately strengthening team cohesion and capability. By promoting equity and empowering diverse members, affinity spaces help build more resilient and effective SAR teams.
Incorporate Inclusive Language in Communications
An intentional effort to use inclusive language shows a recognition and respect for everyone’s identities and is a foundational part of psychological safety and belonging in a group. When someone hears language that includes their gender, relationship, or pronoun correctly, it signals that they are seen and valued. For LGBTQ+ folks (especially those who identify as non-binary or trans) - who are often misgendered, erased, or stereotyped - this small shift can be profoundly affirming.
Inclusive language also prevents people from constantly having to correct assumptions about who they are. That can reduce stress and increase focus, which is especially important in high-stakes environments like SAR teams. Teams that practice inclusive language tend to foster better communication overall - a benefit that extends to all members. When people feel respected, they’re more likely to speak up, collaborate, and trust their teammates.
This is also a great place for allies to step in and speak up. Rather than letting the burden of correcting language fall on the person being misgendered or excluded, another teammate can pull the speaker aside and correct them. Remember, this is not about embarrassing anyone involved nor about making yourself the hero; it’s about making sure people know the power of and context behind their words and reducing harm.
Reviewing your membership and training documents regularly is important for many reasons, but you may consider a review specifically focused on inclusivity. A few easy changes that can go a long way could be:
In your forms, ensure that you have options beyond just “male/female” for gender
If you have photos in training documents, try to show a variety of genders and body types performing skills
Allow members to choose a uniform cut (M/W/Unisex) that they prefer, rather than assuming which cut they should receive
Use gender neutral pronouns in documents wherever possible (ex: “their” instead of “his”, etc)
You can also set the tone for your team in conversations - especially if you’re in a leadership role or if you’re speaking often in front of the group. Consider paying attention to the below:
Introduce yourself with your pronouns, even if you think they’re assumed. This demonstrates that you value respecting others’ identities and creates a safe space for others to share.
Note that queer or gender diverse members may not want to share everything about their own identity until they know it’s safe to do so; set a tone of respect and give folks space to share on their own time rather than asking directly
Avoid assuming pronouns or using gendered language (for example say “partner” instead of “husband/wife” or “firefighter” instead of “fireman” or “they” instead of “he” or “she” when the person has not already shared what pronouns they use.
It’s also important to acknowledge that changing deeply embedded language behavior is not easy - it takes practice and knowing that you’ll likely make mistakes. If someone corrects you, say thank you, make a mental note, and move on. Try not to be overly apologetic as it can draw unwanted attention to someone if you misgender them or use the wrong word.
Remember: the most meaningful thing you can do is make a genuine effort to learn and grow.
Incorporate Inclusivity into Training Processes
To build truly inclusive teams, LGBTQ+ cultural competency should be woven into the fabric of SAR training—just like first aid or trauma-informed care. This means providing basic education on gender identity, sexual orientation, pronoun usage, and the impact of respectful communication. If you don’t have anyone on your team who can offer that insight, consider hiring an outside trainer.
Many team members may have good intentions but lack exposure to these topics, so a structured and non-judgmental training environment is key. Treat these trainings like you would with any other - provide guidance, allow for learning, provide constructive feedback, and use reliable resources.
Provide opportunities for your team to learn and grow in a supportive environment.
Photo: Tim Samuel
Beyond classroom learning, scenario-based training can bring these lessons to life. Field simulations that include patients who are transgender, nonbinary, or in same-gender relationships offer SAR members a chance to practice using inclusive language under pressure.
Before running such a field training, be sure you’ve set everyone up with the tools to succeed in advance. Make sure everyone is aware of the topics being covered so they’re prepared to act with respect and thoughtfulness and don’t feel “called out” or judged. Sexual/gender minorities should also be provided an opportunity to opt out or an affinity time/space to process unintended mistakes and microaggressions that may have occurred. It is not their job to educate others; this should be emphasized.
Scenarios in such a training can also create space to talk about potential challenges - such as dealing with misgendering in front of bystanders or managing forms and reports with outdated gender categories. Practicing how to respond with empathy and professionalism in these situations prepares teams to handle real calls with confidence, care, and respect.
Cultivate a Diverse Leadership Group through Mentorship
Having a diverse membership is a great goal - but having diverse leadership can be extra impactful, ensuring that your team can continue to grow and evolve into the future. Building such a diverse leadership group takes deliberate and intentional effort. For members from traditionally underrepresented groups, it can feel intimidating to step into a board or officer position, especially if joining a group primarily made up of cisgender, heterosexual, white men. Cultivating a more diverse board requires intentionally inviting diverse folks into the space and letting them know they’re valued for their contributions and perspective - not simply to tick a certain box.
To achieve this, encourage your board to lead through modeling inclusivity using the tools outlined above. They may even consider additional training in cultural competency and mentorship. From there, invite folks into the decision making process through workgroups or committees focused on a topic they feel strongly about. And, as always, provide lots of chances for sharing and listen with respect.
Diverse, resilient SAR teams that reflect the communities they serve can provide an exceptional level of service for their communities. It can not be overstated how much it means for subjects to see their identity represented in the volunteers caring for them, or for a spouse to be treated with respect and kindness during a search for their loved one.
If you’re a SAR team leader, you have a unique opportunity to build a foundation for such a team and community. Use our attached tool to evaluate your team and identify areas of improvement.
Download our Inclusivity Self-Evaluation (PDF)
Have you had successes or challenges building a diverse team? Let us know in the comments or reach out to share your experience in a future feature.
