Call for Speakers for the June 5-7, 2014 National Search and Rescue Conference presented by the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) and the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey

 Download info here.

The January 2014 issue of "SAR News," published by southern Arizona's Search and Rescue Council, Inc., (SARCI) is now online

Download it here.

The Jan 2014 issue of "Forensic Magazine" is online

The January 2014 issue of Forensic Magazine is online.

Two potentially good articles for SAR operators:

• How to diagram a crime scene on page 16
• How to prevent crime scene contamination on page 30

Read the full January issue here.

New "Combat Tracker" group page on Facebook

If you're a man-tracker, or want to learn more about man-tracking, check out the new Combat Tracker group page on Facebook.

It's administered by John Hurth, the president of the Carencro, Louisiana-based TÝR Group, which offers instruction in tracking, small unit tactics, survival, bushcraft, and more, to military units, law enforcement departments, civilian agencies, search-and-rescue teams, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Hurth, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who was awarded the Bronze Star, is also the author of the Combat Tracking Guide.

Pulley systems

Pulleys can be viewed simply as levers. The relative positions of the load, anchor (or fulcrum), and effort determine which of the three classes of lever illustrated at the right is in use.

Source: Adapted from Pulleys as Levers, by Richard Delaney,  Copyright © 2013. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with expressed written permission. To learn more about rope access work, climbing, and rope rescue, visit Richard's Rope Test Lab group page on Facebook.

Richard Delaney has worked professionally with ropes since 1992. Initially, this was as a multi-pitch, rock-climbing guide, but this soon morphed into specialized rescue instruction and rope access work. He is currently an accredited Vertical Rescue Instructor/Assessor, a Level 3 Rope Access Technician, a Technical Director of the Australian Rope Access Association, and the administrator of the Rope Test Lab group on Facebook. Understanding and teaching the Physics of Rigging is a core passion of Richard's, one based on his experience, and his prior professional life as a qualified engineer.

Rope rescue excerpts from Tom Brigg's "Vertical Academy" coming soon to the Spec Ops Blog

The Spec Ops Blog just inked a partnership with Tom Brigg's to bring you regular rope-rescue excerpts from the full-color, richly-illustrated edition of his just-published—Vertical Academy—a NFPA-compliant rope rescue manual.

Tom Briggs is a fire service veteran of over 33 years and author of Vertical Academy, a vocational rope rescue textbook.

Before retiring as a Captain in 2008, he was assigned to the Special Operations Division at Metro Fire Sacramento, California as the Rescue Services Manager. He was also a Rescue Team Leader for FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Taskforce 7.

An instructor for the State of California and Rescue 3 International, Tom coordinated and taught many training courses specializing in the rope, trench, confined space, and water rescue disciplines to scores of agencies alongside many well-known rescue training luminaries. The National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR) recognized Tom’s training contributions in 1996 with the Higgins Langley Award.

Look for informative excerpts shortly after the start of the new year. Learn more about Tom Brigg's new book here.

In the meantime, here's a peek inside Vertical Academy...

Paw Injuries and Paw Protection in Working Dogs

The December 28, 2013 issue of the Veterinary Tactical Group Newsletter contains an article entitled "Paw Injuries and Paw Protection in Working Dogs," by Dr. Janice Baker, Chief of Veterinary Operations at the Veterinary Tactical Group. Download 5-page article here.

Source: First Response Search Team via Peace River K9 Search & Rescue Association, Inc.

The special challenges of searching for missing alzheimer's subjects

Kimberly R. Kelly Falconer, Founder and Executive Director of Project Far From Home, has put together a great review of some of the special challenges searchers will face when looking for missing alzheimer's subjects.

Entitled Missing at Risk – Understanding and Managing the Search for the Missing Alzheimer’s Subject (Copyright © 2008 by Project Far From Home), her write-up explains the following topics:

• What is Alzheimer’s disease?
• How Is AD Diagnosed?
• Progression of the Disease
• Agnosia
• Agnosia and Driving
• Agnosia and Additional Concerns
• Aphasia
• Apraxia
• Cognitive Mapping
• Sundowning
• Dysphagia
• Wandering
• Family Reporting Incidents of Past Wandering
• Lost in the Labyrinth
• Catastrophic Reaction
• Violence
• Incontinence
• A Death March

Download your copy of this informative, 18-page document here.

Friction considerations when lead climbing

Good info on friction considerations when lead climbing from the Rigging Lab experts at Rescue Response Gear.

• View high-res image here.

How to safely belay and rappel

The British Mountaineering Council and Mountain Leader Training England have published an excellent 6-page leaflet on how to belay and rappel safely.

Entitled Belaying and Abseiling—Get It Right, it addresses some of the most common causes of injuries and fatalities suffered by climbers, hill walkers, and mountaineers, and offers clear, concise ways to avoid them.

PSA: This information would make an excellent public service announcement (PSA) or community outreach program for SAR teams dealing with these types of calls.

Download this informative leaflet here.

The Nov-Dec, 2013 issue of the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit's "Rescue" magazine is online

The November/December 2013 issue of Rescue, published by the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit (IMSARU) in Boise, Idaho, has just been uploaded to the Net.

A founding member of the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA), IMSARU has been publishing Rescue since 1962—an impressive 52 years.

IN THIS ISSUE: Check out Jimmie Yorgensen's 3-page mission report on the month-long search for two women at Craters of the Moon National Monument, which involved extremely difficult terrain:

There are thousands of caves and tunnels where a person could have taken shelter and not be seen from the surface, brushy gullies, thin “bridges” of lava that give way under a person’s weight, always unstable footing, and challenging access once searchers left the developed areas.

Read it here.

Innovative Florida SAR unit builds their own drone for search missions

If you're interested in learning more about how drones—or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—can be used by a SAR team like yours, check out what the Peace River K9 Search & Rescue Association (PRSAR) of Englewood, Florida is up to.

For months, I've been following their progress in building a drone from scratch and it's pretty cool.

They're putting together a multi-mission-capable SAR UAS X81 aerial recon platform equipped with a live feed video-and-mapping camera.

In addition to chronicling the weekly progress of their new drone SAR unit, their Facebook page is one of the best portals into the world of drones that I've come across to date. These guys and gals are on the cutting edge. Check them out here. 

Here's a few shots of Peace River's SAR UAS X81 drone being prepped on its launcher by Richard Hyland, a K9 handler and private pilot with PRSAR. Photos courtesy of Michael Hadsell, a commercial-rated pilot and administrator of PRSAR's Facebook page.

The 7 fundamental principles of man-tracking

The seven (7) fundamental principles of man-tracking:

1. Positively identify the tracks you're going to follow.
2. Keep the track line between you and the light source.
3. Observe and track as far out as the sign can be recognized.
4. Never move further than the last known sign.
5. Never contaminate the sign.
6. Never track faster than your abilities allow.
7. Get into the mind of the quarry.

Source: This article was adapted from the Combat Tracking Guide, by John D. Hurth, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who was awarded the Bronze Star. Copyright © 2012 by Stackpole Books. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with expressed written permission. To purchase this book or inquire about Hurth’s man-tracking classes and tactical, force-on-force training programs, contact the TÝR Group, LLC; www.TYRgroupLLC.com, 1.337.344.7928.

John D. Hurth, US Army Special Forces Soldier, retired

Holiday Tech Tips from our friends at Petzl

Holiday Tech Tips from our friends at Petzl.

How to use your hand and the sun to tell the time

As you know, the sun crosses the imaginary North-South line (Meridian) every day when it reaches its highest point (Zenith) above the horizon. Therefore when the sun is at its highest point in the sky it is North or South of you, depending upon your position on the earth's surface, and the sun's position relative to the earth's equator.

For all practical purposes there are twenty-four hours between each sun crossing of your North-South line, or Meridian. During the twenty-four hours the earth will have revolved apparently 360 degrees; therefore it will move 15 degrees for each hour, or one degree in four minutes.   

Source: This article was adapted from The Ten Bushcraft Books, by Richard Harry Graves. Originally a military jungle-craft manual, it was published circa-1944 by Graves (1898-1971), an Irish-born Australian poet and novelist who founded and led the Australian Jungle Survival and Rescue Detachment during World War II. Attached to the Far East American Air Force, he trained US forces in jungle craft. His 60-man unit conducted over 300 rescues, all of which were completed successfully and without losses. After the war he ran a bushcraft school for over twenty years.

This is very convenient to know, because if you know the North or South accurately, you can easily measure off the number of degrees the sun is from the North-South line, and this will give you the number of hours and minutes before, or after noon. These measurements must be made along the curved path of the sun, and not on a horizontal or flat plane.

The above illustration shows how to measure degrees with the arm fully extended. These measurements will vary slightly, like your personal dimensions, and should be checked by each individual with a compass for accuracy.

• Hand at full arm's length, fingers widely spread—22 degrees
• Thumb turned in—15 degrees
• Closed fist—8 degrees
• From second knuckle to edge of fist—3 degrees
• Between two centre knuckles—2 degrees

By this means, if you have a compass, time can be easily read from the sun's position. This should be possible to within four or five minutes. Decide from your compass your true North-South line and remember to make allowance for the magnetic variation from True North. Measure the number of degrees the sun is from this imaginary line, and multiply the number of degrees by four to obtain the number of minutes.

For example, in the above illustration, the sun is 34 degrees from the North-South line. It is morning, because the sun is on the eastern side of the North-South line, 34 x 4 = 136 minutes before noon; therefore it is sixteen minutes to ten in the morning local sun time.

The December 2013 issue of the New Zealand Search and Rescue (NZSAR) "Link Magazine" is now online

The December 2013 issue of the New Zealand Search and Rescue (NZSAR) Link Magazine is now online.

The FBI's FREE, 197-page "Handbook of Forensic Services" is a handy reference for those tasked with recognizing, preserving, and collecting forensic-related evidence

The Handbook of Forensic Services (revised in 2007), edited by Kim Waggoner, and published by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is an excellent how-to manual for those tasked with dealing with trace evidence, either from the standpoint of recognizing it so it can be preserved for collection by the agency of jurisdiction, or collected, packaged, and submitted directly to a forensic science laboratory.

Indexed for quick access, it covers:

• Submitting Evidence
• Evidence Examinations
• Crime Scene Safety
• Crime Scene Search

This detailed, 197-page forensic manual is MibSAR recommended for SAR-trailer reference libraries.

Best of all, this publication can be downloaded for free here. 

How to use the aiming off technique with your map and compass

Aiming off is an essential land navigation technique to use when your attack point is not immediately visible.

Source: This article was adapted from the Ultimate Navigation Manual, by Lyle F. Brotherton. Copyright © 2011 by Harper Collins Publishers, London, UK. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted with Expressed Written Permission. Order your copy today at www.MicroNavigation.com or www.Amazon.com.

In poor weather you can lose sight of even the largest attack point—small or subtle attack points (such as a contour change) can be missed even in the best of conditions.

The technique involves aiming at a linear feature, deliberately to one side of the attack point, then simply following it to your attack point.

Steps

1. Select your Attack Point.
2. Identify a Linear Feature such as a wall, stream or track near to the attack point.
3. Take a Bearing to one side of your attack point.
4. Calculate from the map the approximate distance from the point at which you will reach the linear feature to your attack point.
5. Walk this bearing.
6. When you reach the linear feature use it as a Handrail to find your attack point, pacing the distance.

The added advantage of flowing water (rivers, brooks, streams, etc.) is that you can also work out from the contour lines which way they are flowing, in this instance you would walk downstream. It might be worth noting that when you hit the linear feature you pace how far it is to your attack point just in case you overshoot it

The December 2013 issue of "SAR News," published by the Arizona Search and Rescue Council, Inc., is online

The December 2013 issue of SAR News, published by the Arizona Search and Rescue Council, Inc., is  online.

Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) efficiency requires more than triage tags

Good article on how to manage mass casualty incidents (MCIs) more effectively in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services:

The Sept. 12, 2008, collision between two trains in a remote area on the outskirts of Los Angeles was an "all-hands" MCI that required significant manpower and resources. This incident presents the opportunity for me to review components of MCI management that are often neglected or omitted from MCI action plans:

• Scene Management
• Communications
• Use of helicopters
• Forward Triage & Re-Triage
• Staging Vehicles and People
• Patient Transfer Teams

Read this timely article here.