I worked at a national park as a 911 operator (public safety communications officer)..

The mindblowing fucking search and rescue i got while i worked there was this.

A sister wanted someone to check on her brother, he was supposed to go on the trail sleep in the woods at 1 camp, hike more sleep at 2 camp, then turn around and sleep at 1 camp, and be back out. He went there on a friday and was supposed to be out monday..she called us thursday saying she hasnt heard from him, so thats like 3 or 4 days she waited.

I let my rangers know and we assembled a team and i called in some back country hikers who were employees. The dude fell off a cliff and slid down and stopped on a small ledge, he had a survival book with him that saved his life.

He was drinking dew and had a pack of peanuts that he made last a week. He set a timer on his watch so he would yell every hour for help and he just laid there waiting. He was also using a mirror to try and shine at overhead planes when they passed.