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msar-riders - [MSAR] Sound attraction / Sound Sweeps

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  • From: "Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [MSAR] Sound attraction / Sound Sweeps
  • Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:07:43 -0700

From: "Lois Guyon" <laguyon2@yahoo.com>
I have not heard anyone reference sound sweeps before on this list. Do
any of you use them often or at all? Does anyone have any "tales from the
front" about using sound sweeps?


Consider the "3 shots fired" to get attention and help. The reverse is also true for using loud sound to try and find someone by drawing attention to
your own presence and location. "Sound attraction" is a common tool in SAR, the most basic being yelling the person's name. When the search area is vast, louder sounds can be advantageous.

The intent is the lost person might hear and move toward that sound. Obviously this doesn't always work since the person may be non-responsive, unable to travel toward your sound, is avoiding searchers for some reason, etc. The first "sweep" - or hasty search - of an area often includes an emphasis on sound attraction with the hope for a fast find of a responsive subject who may not be immediately within view from the searcher's location. This might be someone who slipped and fell off the trail, lost / left the trail and is wandering nearby, is resting under a tree nearby, etc.

The same concept for using sound to communicate your presence is used in collapsed structure search. For example, tapping a pipe and listening for
some kind of responding tap, or surrounding an area and yelling / making noise then trying to "triangulate" to narrow down the vicinity of any response. You can also use the triangulation method in the field during SAR.

In SAR, the basic loud sound attraction is yelling the person's name. This is effective in smaller search areas, or where teams are fairly close in spacing in a more confined area. As teams are farther apart in a larger search area like wilderness / large local park or deep backcountry, usually a loud whistle is blown by the search team at intervals between calling the person's name. When teams are close enough to hear another team's whistle, synchronizing the use of the sound helps coordinate timing so there is less potential for mistaking another team's whistle as being a response.

Other loud sound options might be a car horn, air horn, PA system, siren, engine and horn of a vehicle (including off-road), etc. ... moving or stationary. The sound attraction might draw the person to a trail, trailhead, road, command post, etc. Also consider how the helicopter or plane creates sound that hopefully brings the person out into an area where they are visible from the air. If nothing else, the noise says "We're looking for you!"

All searchers in my county carry a whistle as part of required gear, and it is commonly included in a SAR unit's equipment list ... often indicated in the "survival kit" section. Obviously when there is potential for cold weather, the plastic whistle is preferred since cold metal can stick to skin.
Carrying a whistle is included in the common "top 10" list for wilderness survival items, so many hikers carry a loud whistle just for emergency noise. You can blow a whistle to "call" for help, even if you can't yell well, and the whistle sound carries farther than the voice. Use of the whistle by the lost person is so basic that it is a primary wilderness survival tool for children. (See the revised Hug A Tree program for children's wilderness survival training available through NASAR www.nasar.org ) So searchers also need to *listen* for a whistle. (Listen for a whistle in a direction / location where there is no search team, confirm if any audible whistle is another search team, etc.)

There is a similar concept in using lights and other tools for visual attraction at night, where the lost person might see that spotlight, camp fire, whatever, and move in that direction where there are known people. Another visual attraction is the reflective surface used like a signal mirror in daylight. The searcher might signal their location to air support, or the lost person might attempt to get the attention of a searcher.

(From the "find me" perspective, in their backcountry fanny packs my grandkids carry a plastic whistle and other basic survival gear that includes a chemical light stick that would help guide a searcher to them at night as well as providing them the comfort of some light if lost. A far safer option than providing children with matches to start a fire. ;-/ And their "signal mirror" is a large "silver" dog tag - with name and parent name and cell phone number - attached to the fanny pack. Yes, it also works to reflect light.)

Using "attractions" is a great SAR tool when the subject is responsive. We have a vast backcountry here, and have a habit of using sirens / horns whenever vehicles are on roads in the extended search area. Sometimes the mobile subject will later walk out onto a road where he is easier to find. Since we typically have many, many miles between roads in our vast national parks and forests, searchers in the field also use sound attraction ... commonly a combination of yelling and a whistle.

The key to success is listening very carefully for any response ... including paying attention to your horse / mule, who is likely to hear something you don't. That mount may also make note of a weakly waving hand if the person is unable to make sound that carries. This also assumes the mount has been desensitized to that sudden loud whistle so the rider can focus on being a searcher instead of scrambling to regain control of the startled mount. ;-)

~ ~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs
SAR & CERT
Mounted SAR
www.ceoates.com/msar






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