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msar-riders - [MSAR] Msar Standards - my point of view

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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  • From: "Kevin Stokes" <klstokes@qwest.net>
  • To: msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [MSAR] Msar Standards - my point of view
  • Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:01:37 -0600

I live within commuting distance of a major metropolitan area (Minneapolis/St. Paul). My county is rural agricultural with an increasing residential population. I just passed a corn field that just started sprouting houses. One of the farmers that I buy hay from sold one of his fields - its becoming an industrial park. You'd be hard pressed to call anything here "wilderness".
In Terry's neck of the woods, in the Red River Valley, its heavily agriculture, very open, with a couple major national wildlife refuges. Terry knows my veiw is from going to college up there 20 a bunch years ago.
Sounds like Jorene and Una live in an area with some heavy duty wilderness. And yet we should be all covered by the same Msar National Standards. Standards which would be more than adequate for my unit would leave wilderness searchers dangerously underprepared. And wilderness quality standards would saddle my unit with useless and even silly requirements. Terry probably mentioned that in Minnesota the county sheriffs are required by law to search for lost or missing persons within their county. That is why all mounted posses/patrols are attached to the sheriff's office. We can only be activated by out sheriff's office (which I dicsovered really pisses off the FBI). Any national standard must conform to the sheriff's office policy or we can't use it.
And to compound problems, it must be appliciable to all of us or it wouldn't be a national standard.
My only thought on this would to be a multi layered standard - a basic set that would apply to all units, and a more advanced set for those who do more intensive searches. This sounds like an approach that would be tough to work also.
I'm glad I'm not on the Standards Committee - my head hurts just thinking this much.
Kevin






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