SAR Training

Online Academy

Introduction to Search and Rescue (RCC/Police/Military/Other)

Introduction to Search and Rescue (RCC/Police/Military/Other)

First Responders Land SAR Operations   (Military/Police)

First Responders Land SAR Operations (Military/Police)

First Responders Land SAR Operations (Indo-Pacific Nations)

First Responders Land SAR Operations (Indo-Pacific Nations)

First Responders Land SAR Awareness (Volunteer Organisation)

First Responders Land SAR Awareness (Volunteer Organisation)

In-Flight Emergency Response & SAR  (RCC/ANSP/Military/Regulator)

In-Flight Emergency Response & SAR (RCC/ANSP/Military/Regulator)

Drift Modeling Fundamentals

Drift Modeling Fundamentals

Small Boat Safety Awareness

Small Boat Safety Awareness

Introduction to Search and Rescue (Indian Ocean Rim Association)

Introduction to Search and Rescue (Indian Ocean Rim Association)

Online Learning Academy

John Rice
IAMSAR Specialist and Head of Online Academy

John began his career in search and rescue in 1974 as a member of the Queensland Police, and later as a helicopter rescue crewman with Surf Lifesaving Australia and CareFlight Queensland, and a volunteer member of the Queensland State Emergency Service, New South Wales Rural Fire Brigade and Volunteer Marine Rescue Queensland. He is qualified in land, marine and aviation search and rescue management and is a Life Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Emergency Services.

About the Online Academy

All learning resources are provided electronically as part of the training. Through the medium of e-learning, SAR Training Australia’s highly experienced and professional experts deliver knowledge and competency-based learning directly to a student’s home or workplace.

Our online and virtual learning packages enable students to study at their own pace, at times that suit them and without the need to travel distances to attend classroom-based lectures. Our virtual campus is especially advantageous to our commercial clients as it allows employees to best balance family, work and studies.

Dr Ben Butson is an Emergency, Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Physician based in Townsville, North Queensland. He recently retired from long standing positions as an Emergency Physician at the Townsville University Hospital and as the Director of Northern Operations for LifeFlight Retrieval Medicine. He is an experienced pre-hospital and retrieval consultant, having co-ordinated or conducted many hundreds of aeromedical retrieval missions, including primary response rescue missions. He has decades of experience in pre-hospital and retrieval work in the Australian civilian as well as the deployed military environment. He is a Colonel in the Army Reserve, having graduated from the Australian Defence Force Academy and then the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1991.  He has served abroad in East Timor, Solomon Islands, Afghanistan and Iraq on multiple tours. He currently works as a Senior Medical Officer in Anaesthetics at the Mount Isa Base Hospital. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the James Cook University School of Medicine where he assists in the delivery of pre-hospital and aeromedical retrieval courses. He has worked for several years in a voluntary capacity to provide medical advice to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority as well as for State and Territory police search and rescue services. He is an avid outdoorsman with a lifetime of experience in the Australian bush and coastlines.

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