Ground Team Member & Leader Reference Text Developed as part of the National Emergency Services Curriculum Project TABLE OF CONTENTS Description Page Table of Contents................................................................................................................................................i Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................ii Chapter 1 - SAR is an Emergency.....................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2 - Gear Types & Usage .....................................................................................................................4 Chapter 3 - Vehicle Inspection and Clearance ................................................................................................17 Chapter 4 - Natural Hazards, Field Sanitation, & Campsite Selection .........................................................19 Chapter 5 - Land Navigation .............................................................................................................................28 Chapter 6 - Electronic Direction Finding .........................................................................................................43 Chapter 7 - Land Search Methods....................................................................................................................46 Chapter 8 - Knots, Ropes, & Stretchers...........................................................................................................60 Chapter 9 - Land Survival...................................................................................................................................68 Chapter 10 - Air-Ground Signaling ...................................................................................................................77 Chapter 11 - Helicopter Operations ..................................................................................................................84 Chapter 12 - Legal Issues in SAR.....................................................................................................................89 Chapter 13 - Emergency Services Forms ..........................................................................................................92 Chapter 14 - Interviewing Techniques .............................................................................................................94 Chapter 15 - Scene Management ......................................................................................................................98 Chapter 16 - Bloodborne Pathogens ................................................................................................................105 Chapter 17 - Activating the SAR System........................................................................................................112 Chapter 18 - Starting the Search........................................................................................................................117 Chapter 19 - Managing the Search Process ....................................................................................................120 Chapter 20 - Starting A Search Team...............................................................................................................124 Chapter 21 - Computers in SAR........................................................................................................................126 Chapter 22 - Critical Incident Stress .................................................................................................................128 Chapter 23 - Continuing Education ..................................................................................................................130 Attachment A - Gear Fill-in form.......................................................................................................................132 Attachment B - Helicopter Marshalling Signals .............................................................................................133 Attachment C - Map Tools ................................................................................................................................136 Attachment D - CAP Grid System.....................................................................................................................137 Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................................160 Comment and Suggestions................................................................................................................................161 i INTRODUCTION The following course material has been developed from several years of experience and knowledge. Documentation and ideas were accepted from all Civil Air Patrol Regions and Wings so that a comprehensive standardized program could be developed at a national level. The chapters included, if properly used in conjunction with a strong field program, should fulfill the minimum requirements for successful specialty qualification of basic ground team members and leaders. The course work is presented in the following manner. Chapters are ordered so that a person builds on skills. Team members need to know certain things before going into the field out of a controlled or safe environment. Once those skills are learned, a trainee can build on that to progress through the training program and work with less guidance in an area that may not be familiar. Finally, a trainee progresses to the point of being qualified, where the person not only can but, is often expected to work autonomously. Trainees are told the topic and objectives up front. As the trainee reads and practices skills, he or she should focus on the objectives already established because this is the same material on which trainees will be tested. At the end of each chapter there are review questions. These are samples of the possible questions to be asked as part of the trainee's final evaluation. Additionally, more specific training on individual tasks is presented in the field task guides, as referenced in the text. You will work through these tasks on field exercises throughout your training. We hope that this program suits your needs and that you will take back the knowledge and skills necessary to good ground operations within CAP. Remember though, that you will have to continue building on this knowledge. Training to orient you to your locality as well as advanced and ongoing training is always necessary. If you believe that you know everything about ground SAR by going to one training program, then you are wrong. This is just the beginning of a lifetime of training and re-training. Good luck, and have fun. The Emergency Services Curriculum Working Group ii Chapter SAR IS AN EMERGENCY 1 OBJECTIVES: 1. Be Familiar with factors that make search and rescue incidents emergencies. 2. Be able to evaluate the relative urgency of a search and rescue incident. Any SAR incident is an emergency! This means any report of an overdue person or aircraft must be treated with as much seriousness as a report of a school bus accident, multiple vehicle collision, or tornado. One or more persons' lives may be in danger - a sizeable number of victims die in SAR incidents. However, for CAP's sake you must also remember that searches can cause intense press, public, and political interest. No other type of incident, if mishandled, has so great a potential for disastrous publicity or legal liability for you. Four Factors Making Emergency Response Necessary There are four specific factors that make emergency response necessary to a SAR incident. They are: 1. A lag in the alert of mission personnel. 2. The odds of a victim surviving as time goes on. 3. Size of the search area. 4. Available information. A lag in the Alert: There may be a long delay between the time someone goes missing and the time he is reported missing. Family and friends may assume the missing is late or diverted to some other activity. Finally, when the expected time of return is well past (midnight is common), realization sets in that the person may be lost. In cases of missing children in the outdoors, parents and friends will typically conduct their own search for several hours before calling for help. If the person does not have anyone waiting for them at home, an alert that something went wrong over a weekend may not come until the start of work on Monday. Organized SAR responses may not start until hours or even days after the actual incident truly began. Victim Survival Limitations: Chances of finding a victim alive drop rapidly - 50% of the living survivors are found in the first 24 hours; over 75% are found in the first two days. Several factors contribute. First, many SAR incidents result in severe injuries. The emergency medical system has a concept known as the "Golden Hour" - if a severely injured patient can be brought to a trauma center within one hour they have a good chance for survival. After that hour the chances start dropping dramatically. Notification of SAR personnel typically comes hours after the injury. We are behind the survival curve before we even start. Second, people tend to get in trouble when conditions are bad. Cold weather increases the risk of hypothermia and hot weather the chances of heat illness and dehydration.