The California Highway Patrol, Valley Division Air Operations, is the sixth search-and-rescue organization to be operational in the United States with the RECCO SAR helicopter detector. The detector will be used to search for missing people in the outdoors year-round.

Many SAR teams in California are equipped with handheld RECCO detectors for avalanche rescue and searching for missing people, but this is the first time the RECCO SAR helicopter detector system is operational in the state.

“It is a real milestone to be operational with the RECCO SAR helicopter detector system in the state of California. To have such an experienced organization as the California Highway Patrol on board is an honor and we look forward to working with them to improve search and rescue techniques in the outdoors,” said Fredrik Steinwall, CEO at RECCO.

The RECCO SAR helicopter detector can quickly search large areas, covering 1 km2 within 6 minutes. Besides shortening search time, the helicopter-based detector can reduce the time and the exposure to risk for rescue workers during search missions.

RECCO rescue reflectors are commonly found in outdoor clothing and equipment, such as backpacks, hiking shoes, and helmets. Other applications include climbing harnesses, where Black Diamond recently presented their first-ever equipped Technician RECCO harness. The first hunting brand to integrate RECCO reflectors into their products in 2020 is FORLOH, an American company based in Whitefish, Montana.

Currently there are 27 RECCO SAR helicopter detectors globally, with nine in North America and 18 units deployed across Europe. The latest deployments include Teton County Search-and-Rescue (USA), Vernon Search & Rescue (CAN) and a RECCO SAR helicopter detector based out of Abruzzo operated by Italy’s CNSAS.

This press release was prepared and distributed by RECCO.