What is ARP?
Arapahoe Rescue Patrol is a volunteer search and rescue team based in Arapahoe County, Colorado. Since 1957, ARP members have provided free search, rescue, and emergency services in town, in the backcountry, and on missions across the state.
Search and Rescue, Run by High School Students.
What is ARP?
A Working Search And Rescue Team
The Arapahoe Rescue Patrol is the primary search and rescue team for Arapahoe and Elbert Counties, CO and is not a classroom program or junior club attached to another agency. Members train because the calls are real, the work is serious, and the team is trusted to respond in force, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
ARP serves as a search and rescue resource under the Arapahoe County sherrif and responds to mutual aid requests across Colorado. Members may run searches, join search teams, staff mission base, provide medical care, support rescues, assist fire departments, and work alongside law enforcement and our emergency-service partners.
Missing-Person Searches
Search for lost or missing people in neighborhoods, open space, mountains, and other field environments.
Rescue Operations
Assist with injured, stranded, or difficult-to-reach people during field and technical rescue responses.
Medical Care
Provide first aid, CPR, wilderness care, patient assessment, and emergency medical support.
Fire-Scene Support
Staff SMFR Rehab 12. Support firefighters with rehab, logistics, air bottle refills, traffic control, and other non-hazardous fireground tasks.
Evidence & Recovery Support
Conduct careful area searches for evidence, human remains, or other law-enforcement-related assignments.
Public-Safety Response
Respond to partner-agency requests during emergencies, severe weather, large incidents, and community events.
ARP is an active search and rescue organization. Members train for the types of calls the Patrol may be asked to run or assist with, including missing-person searches, rescue operations, emergency medical care, fire-scene support, evidence searches, recovery searches, and other requests from public-safety partners.
What ARP Members Do
History
A Colorado Original Since 1957
1957
ARP is founded
High school students form the Patrol in Littleton and begin providing search and rescue services.
1958
Officially chartered
The organization is formally established as a youth-let rescue program.
2000
Congressional recognition
The U.S. House of Representatives recognizes ARP's long record of youth-led public service.
Today
Still answering calls
ARP continues to respond to missions, train new members, and serve communities across Colorado.
ARP was formed in Littleton in 1957 after local students stepped forward to build the rescue unit their community needed. Public Colorado SAR history recognizes ARP as the second organized search and rescue team in Colorado, following Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and preceding Alpine Rescue Team.