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  • From: Kinch <kinch@shaw.ca>
  • To: Mounted search and rescue <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Maps and coordinates
  • Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:21:49 -0800

Hello all,

This is my first post so please bear with me. Here in British Columbia, even though we are volunteers, all Ground Search & Rescue (GSAR) Specialist are trained to the standards as set down by the Justice Institute of British Columbia. As such we are trained in both systems however we always use the UTM coordinate system except when communicating with or working directly under the command of Air or Marine Search & Rescue Units. In that case we use Lat / Lon as it is the only system they use. I personaly prefer the UTM system as I don't need any special tools or have to unfold the map to determine a location. It is also much easier to estimate distances.

Joe Kinch
Arrowsmith Search & Rescue
Vancouver Island

----- Original Message ----- From: "T'mi Fi" <tfinkle@erols.com>
To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 6:04 PM
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Maps and coordinates


Well said Una.

In Maryland and Virginia UTM is standard used by most Incident
Commanders on the majority of searches. Our team has also found UTM
utilized for incidents in Delaware, eastern West Virginia, and southwest
Pennsylvania. In my opinion, the primary advantage with using UTM is
using two sets of 4 digit numbers to call you location, plus the grid
readers are easy to use and carry. Although all SAR teams need to be
familiar with all regionally used coordinate systems.

T'mi
Maryland

Una Smith wrote:

With a GPS, in my experience the choice of coordinate system is a
non-issue.

The TOP issue is what do SAR managers in your region prefer to use?

The NEXT issue is what coordinate systems are marked on maps used
by your team and by SAR management?

I used to record all my field coordinates in lat/long, but here in
New Mexico the SAR community prefers UTM. For SAR UTM has one big
advantage: all UTM grid squares are 1km on a side, which makes for
very easy arithmetic to figure the distance between two locations
within a UTM zone.

Una Smith
New Mexico

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