Ross Gordon

SAR Development Manager & Course Instructor Location: Methven

I have been involved in SAR for over 33 years. This includes attending my first SAREX at thirteen, time as deputy national SAR coordinator during my eighteen year Police career and assisting to establish NZLSAR and founding Emergency Management Ltd (and subsequently SARINZ).

In 1994 I formed Emergency Management Ltd which was subsequently purchased by SARINZ in 2003. As part of EML (and then SARINZ) I developed and taught over 200 SAR courses in New Zealand. Many of these search courses form part of the SARINZ current suite of SAR courses. 

My specialty (and boundless passion) is “Search”. Together with SAR volunteers, Police and other SAR professionals I developed new search concepts including sound light line and tracking advances, have presented at various international SAR conferences and provided specialist search advice on many operations. 

In my role as SARINZ SAR Development Manager, I will be building on these skills to identify and develop new ideas, opportunities, training and products to benefit SAR and SARINZ.

I will be working closely with operational SAR personnel, key agencies such as Alzheimer’s NZ, International SAR Body/Association, NZ Army and a range of Government Departments, SAR subject specialists and researchers in New Zealand and internationally.

I will also be Instructing across a range of Search and Management courses and look forward to catching up with all the SAR folk around the country.

Together with my wife Trudy we have spent a lifetime in the outdoors in New Zealand and overseas hunting, fishing, tramping, biking and both have been members of the Hutt Valley Tramping Club for thirty years.  We spend most of our free time in the outdoors. 

Ross is a passionate, knowledgeable internationally renowned exponent of SAR.