[at-l] SAR (was Murder in the White Mountains)

[saunterer@jimbullard.org (saunterer@jimbullard.org)]

At 12:04 PM 11/25/01 -0600, L. Parker wrote:
>I used to be on a SAR team once. Only it doesn't mean what you would think
>it normally means...
>
>In the traditional sense SAR stands for Search And Rescue. On the team I
>worked with, it meant Search And Recovery, and we weren't looking for people
>or bodies, we were looking for pieces of them. We could find a fingernail in
>a football field, but it took dozens of people working a methodical search
>pattern to do it.
And Snogrog quoted the news article which said:
>A series of line searches, where people form a line several feet apart and 
>look carefully
>within their path, also took place Wednesday and Thursday

This is what is done in the Adirondacks also.  Initial searches are done by 
the Rangers.  These people know the area and can cover a lot of ground 
fast.  They are very good at it.  I don't have the stats but most lost 
hikers/hunters are either found by Rangers within 24 hours or they walk out 
on their own.

Only if the initial search doesn't find the lost party do they call in the 
volunteers.  The volunteers are called "Search and Rescue" but that does 
not mean we do any medical stuff or even first aid.  It isn't appropriate 
to require every search person to be an EMT.  Our job is just to *find* 
them.  To do that we literally search every square inch of ground.  If 
there is a swamp, we go through it.  If there is blowdown, we go through 
it.  Brier patch?  We go through it.  We weren't told to look for anything 
as gory as body parts. It is assumed that they are in one piece but not 
necessarily conscious and able to hear us and respond to us.  We look at 
every square inch for evidence of someone having been there.  Candy 
wrappers, cigarette butts, bits of clothing snagged on brush, 
anything.  Each team has a leader in radio contact with the search 
base.  Everything found is checked out.  Were they carrying that kind of 
candy, do they smoke that brand of cigarette, were they wearing a dark blue 
jacket?  Searched areas are marked with cotton string to avoid re-searching 
any ground already covered. When the lost person is found we verify their 
condition, give them water, food, warm drinks, dry clothing, whatever is 
needed.  If they can get out with our help, we get them out.  If they 
can't, we call in heavy help,  Rangers with basket stretchers, EMTs, 
choppers, whatever is appropriate to the situation.

It's a slow, tedious process and is complicated when hikers don't tell 
anyone what their plans are because we don't really know which direction to 
go from the vehicle and as you get farther from the vehicle the area grows 
exponentially.  When we show up Rangers will have already checked trail and 
shelter registers in their initial sweep to try and get a fix on their last 
known location and narrow the search.  If the hiker didn't tell anyone 
their plans or write in the registers it is literally like looking for a 
needle in a haystack.

sAunTerer