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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Shadow Schrock" <schrocks@cableone.net>
  • To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Shenandoah Park Fiasco
  • Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 09:55:22 -0600

Please take me off of your mailing list. thanks

-----Original Message-----
From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Una Smith
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 7:38 PM
To: Mounted search and rescue
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Shenandoah Park Fiasco

Marie Lester wrote:
> am I correct in
>thinking that the NIMS instruction/test is supposed to address the
>order of communication and command in such situations?

To me, the most precise answer is "yes and no", because SAR
mission management has two major elements:

1. Management structure.
At this point, the available NIMS training addresses incident
command *structure* for large scale incidents. ICS is just one
possible structure; it is a structure that works well, but ICS
alone does not get the job done. And it is not evident to me
that NIMS will be expanded to include the *other* main element
of incident command: the art of management per se.

2. Management practice.
Managing a SAR mission involves leadership, planning, logistics,
operations, etc. Ie, not just people wearing hats called (in
ICS lingo) Incident Commander, Planning Section Chief, Logistics
Section Chief, etc. As far as I can tell, the "how to" parts
of managing a SAR mission do not vary greatly. Regardless of
the management structure, someone still has to know how to make
(plan) tasks, match each task to a field team, brief the team,
monitor the team in the field, debrief the team.

Does that make sense? Management structure is who does what;
management practice is *how* to do it.

Most SAR responders participate as members of a field team. It
seems to be widely accepted within the SAR management community
that field team members do not need to know anything about how
to manage a SAR mission, but do need to know in broad terms the
management structure in which responders are asked to work. For
example, under ICS on a large SAR mission, field team callouts
and incident base and/or staging area check-in/out log books are
the responsibility of the logistics section; field teams are
briefed and monitored by the operations section; upon return,
field teams are debriefed by the planning section. Knowing this
helps you connect with the people you are supposed to deal with
at each stage of your involvement in the mission.

Una Smith
New Mexico
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