Search and Rescue Merit Badge

The eight requirements with requirement 7's five parts drawn in the order its own words set (scenario, plan, briefing before the search, search, debriefing after it) the backward reference from requirement 6(b) to the term used at 3(d) shown as the edge it is, and the standing prohibition on flying carried where it will be read first.

9 steps (54 parts inside them). 2 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Search and Rescue Merit Badge

No questions answered

This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the question at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.

Which of this applies to you

You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering one question will take out the parts that are not for you.

Answer the questions

The steps

Stage 1 of 9

1 step

1. Hazards and first aid: thirteen conditions, and the gear that answers them Often forgotten Requirement

Three parts. The first-aid list is the same thirteen-item list the Wilderness Survival merit badge uses, word for word, and the 2025 requirements book gives six.

A STANDING NOTE ON THIS BADGE, OUTSIDE THE NUMBERED REQUIREMENTS: flying in aircraft as part of a search and rescue mission is NOT PERMITTED for youth members. The Guide to Safe Scouting lists it among activities that are not allowed, and the 2025 requirements book carries the same note in slightly different words. It is not requirement anything, which is exactly why it gets skimmed. This site does not reproduce the Guide to Safe Scouting (it is published, it changes, and reading the current version is the point), but a plan that hid this would be hiding the hardest limit on the badge.
16 parts
- 1(a). First aid and prevention for thirteen conditions, searchers AND subjects Often forgotten Thirteen conditions, and read the wording: these are conditions searchers AND SUBJECTS could develop. It is not only about looking after yourself. The 2025 requirements book lists six, so a first-aid answer prepared from a printed book will be short by seven: shock, eye injuries, chigger and gnat bites, bee stings, spider bites, scorpion sting and the bite of a wild mammal.
- 1(a)(1). Dehydration
- 1(a)(2). Heatstroke
- 1(a)(3). Hypothermia
- 1(a)(4). Shock
- 1(a)(5). Blisters
- 1(a)(6). Eye injuries
- 1(a)(7). Ankle and knee sprains
- 1(a)(8). Bites of chiggers, ticks, mosquitoes and biting gnats
- 1(a)(9). Bee stings
- 1(a)(10). Spider bites
- 1(a)(11). Scorpion sting
- 1(a)(12). Bite of a wild mammal
- 1(a)(13). Bite of a venomous snake
- 1(b). How the Scout Basic Essentials keep a lost Scout safe until they are found Often forgotten
- 1(c). What a SAR team carries in its field packs, and why

Stage 2 of 9

1 step

2. Staying found, getting found, and being findable from the air Requirement

Five parts. Three of them are about being locatable by somebody else, which is the half of the subject that is easy to skip.
5 parts

Stage 3 of 9

1 step

3. Maps, with a map, a compass, and a GPS device your counselor has approved Often forgotten Requirement

Four parts, and the approval of the GPS device or app is in the requirement's opening sentence rather than in any lettered part.

The approval is in the opening sentence, not in any lettered part: a map, a compass, AND a GPS device or app APPROVED BY YOUR COUNSELOR. Settle which unit or app you are using before the session rather than at it: a phone app your counselor has not seen is the most likely thing to stop this requirement on the day.
4 parts
- 3(a). The 5 D's of a map, pointed out and explained
- 3(b). Altitude, latitude, longitude and US National Grid, and how they differ
- 3(c). Orient the map, take a bearing, estimate distance and describe the terrain
- 3(d). A hypothetical place last seen, and a containment area around it Often forgotten This part uses a term the badge has not defined yet. "Place last seen" is explained at requirement 6(b), three requirements later, alongside "last known point", and the containment idea here is "establishing confinement" at 6(e)(2). Read both before you sit down with the map, or you will be answering 3(d) with a definition you guessed.

Stage 4 of 9

1 step

4. The Incident Command System, and who runs SAR near you Requirement

Two parts: the structure, and the agencies that actually use it in your area.
2 parts
- 4(a). How a local ICS is organised, and how it compares with the patrol method
- 4(b). How local agencies train for and manage search and rescue

Stage 5 of 9

1 step

5. SAR teams: duties, settings, and four types Requirement

Three parts of who does this work and where.
3 parts

Stage 6 of 9

1 step

6. Procedures and the vocabulary: twelve terms, and two definitions used earlier Often forgotten Requirement

Five parts. 6(b) defines a term requirement 3(d) already used, and 6(e)'s twelve terms are the vocabulary of the exercise at requirement 7.
17 parts

Stage 7 of 9

1 step

7. Run a practice search with a team: five parts, in the order the text sets Often forgotten Requirement

The only requirement on the badge that needs other people, a site and a date. Done with a team of Scouts, friends or family, and three of its five parts say when they happen in their own words.

THIS IS THE ONLY REQUIREMENT THAT NEEDS OTHER PEOPLE, A SITE AND A DATE. A practice SAR exercise run with a team of Scouts, friends or family. Everything else on this badge is a conversation with your counselor; this is an operation. Get the team and the date first and work the other seven requirements around it, and note that three of its five parts say WHEN they happen in their own words, so the exercise has a shape before you plan it.
5 parts
- 7(a). Choose a scenario: from the pamphlet, or one your counselor approves Often forgotten
- 7(b). Develop an Incident Action Plan for a hasty search Often forgotten Usually comes after 7(a). Choose a scenario: from the pamphlet, or one your counselor approves.
- 7(c). BEFORE the search begins: hold a PAUSE briefing Often forgotten BEFORE the search begins. The requirement says so. The PAUSE briefing covers hazards, safety concerns, personal and shared Scout Basic Essentials and other gear. It cannot be reconstructed afterwards, and it is the part of the exercise most likely to be skipped by a team that is keen to start.
- 7(d). Execute the search Usually comes after 7(c). BEFORE the search begins: hold a PAUSE briefing.
- 7(e). AFTER the search: hold a team debriefing Often forgotten Usually comes after 7(d). Execute the search.

Stage 8 of 9

1 step

8. Careers, or volunteering. Do ONE Requirement

The badge states the choice itself. Both routes are research and a discussion with your counselor.
2 parts
- 8(a). Research one SAR or emergency management career Optional May not apply
- 8(b). Explore volunteering: disaster relief, wilderness rescue or ski patrol Optional May not apply

Stage 9 of 9

1 step

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 8. Careers, or volunteering. Do ONE.

Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.

This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.