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structure

Central Organization
The CNSAS is organized in a central governing body, including the Office of the President, the National Council, the Assembly and the Caving Commission office, and in local branches which deal with the operational tasks.

The Caving Coordination
Search and Rescue (SaR) operations in caves may be very complex, and are thus managed by a dedicated Caving Commission.

The National Schools
The CNSAS has nine National Schools, recognized as the only schools qualified to train and certify specialized technicians in alpine cliff, high angle and cave rescue. The National Schools certify technicians in alpine cliff and flying rescue, caving rescue, cave diving rescue, canyon rescue, search teams, operational avalanche and operational wilderness search dog teams, MD for mountain emergency or caving emergency, and as directors of rescue operations.
The Schools have therefore the duty to train, certify and verify on a regular basis all technicians and search dog teams to ensure the highest levels of operation.

The Commissions
Apart from the National Schools, that may be organized into Regional Schools, within the CNSAS there are a number of active Commissions. Some provide specialized support during rescue operations (Digging, Cave Diving, Medical, Communication and Documentation). Others are more specific commissions and deal with the research and development of various issues related to rescue techniques (Material, Foreign Relations).

Local Organization
The CNSAS, despite its being a strong national organization, is based locally on the Regional and Provincial Services, with ample organizational and functional autonomy. Those Services are divided into Delegations and Zones of competence, alpine and caving, which are in charge of the organization of rescue operations.
To achieve a timely and efficient rescue, with the crucial input from their deep knowledge of the local territory and its characteristics, every Delegation or Zone is divided into Stations which enlist and organize the technicians on a territorial basis.
The CNSAS is at present organized into 21 Regional or Provincial Services, 31 Alpine Delegations, 16 Caving Zones, 214 Alpine Stations and 27 Caving Stations which have a total number of well over 7000 volunteers enrolled.