Mounted search and rescue

["Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>]

From: "Una Smith" <una@lanl.gov>
> I would not touch MS Access for mission-critical data.  It is
> not robust enough, nor supported on enough operating systems.
> Try MySQL instead?

There is an existing SAR management software built on Microsoft Visual
Foxpro called SearchManager. They are in the process of adding barcode and
other capabilities to that software for next release, with release date not
available. Robust application. According to them "'Search Manager' has
already been used to manage many large-scale searches. These include the
Heather Thomas search, in which over 2,0000 people were involved over more
than a week, and the Mount Elizabeth Search,
http://www.sarinfo.bc.ca/sartechnology/MtElizabeth_Search.htm an eight-day
major wilderness search which included two hundred searchers performing 120
assignments over four days. In both cases up to six computers all ran
'Search Manager' simultaneously over a local area network, to keep up with
the very heavy demands of incident management."  The software is on
http://sartechnology.ca/

> Una Smith <una@lanl.gov> wrote:
> >> Anyway, exactly what problems in SAR is barcoding expected to
> >> solve?
>
> Jorene Downs <Jorene@ceoates.com> wrote:
> >Management issues in a large SAR. If you have a long line of people to
check
> >in, it is faster to scan the barcode and generate an automatic entry of
data
> >than to enter that data manually.
>
> In this case, it may be faster, and is certainly more robust,
> to pass out several clipboards with sign-in sheets, and enter
> the data later.  [...]

Time management. Printing by hand on paper would take about 20 seconds to
enter name and time, plus any other fields on the form. The total might be
anything from 30-60 seconds per person. Barcode would take less than 5
seconds and promptly relate to the individual's training level and skills in
the database. In the time it takes to barcode scan an ID card into a
networked PC, Operations has the data and can be reaching management
decisions. Pass around clipboards and Ops waits until the clipboards are
turned in. The substantially slower clipboard method is the backup system if
for some reason all the technology fails.

One suggestion - particularly for those who use the T-card system - is to
issue 2 ID cards. One ID is turned in at check-in ... it could then be
scanned for barcode (faster process to collect the cards to scan instead of
scan while the person waits) ... and the other is retained to wear in the
field. Having the 2nd card retained in the field allows for identification
for a medical emergency, plus there are certain types of searches where
personnel entering the confined space or particularly hazardous area would
hand the ID they are wearing to a "lookout" before entering, then collect
the card upon exit.  A simple and effective method used for mines, caves,
collapsed structures / rubble search, etc.

Jorene wrote:
> >potential for documentation error, increases speed of the
> >processing, and gets personnel assigned and deployed more quickly.
>
> Only in the event (a) the system is designed well and (b) is
> being used by people who have the necessary skill to use the
> system well (efficiently, fully, and accurately).

Training ... and a reliable power source. <g>  But if the database is
designed correctly and the network is functional, the user at check-in need
only know how to point and shoot the barcode gun. (At a large incident you
might have several laptops equipped with barcode guns to process personnel
more quickly.) If the gun fails for some reason, the user should have the
option to call up the person's name in the database and do a simple single
data entry to indicate the person has checked in - perhaps a
date/time-related entry. If the network goes down, at intervals copy the
database report onto a floppy disk to hand to Ops. If the system goes down
entirely, reach for the clipboard that has a preprinted form designed to
match the pertinent database fields.

BTW - this same barcode scan ID system could be utilized for disaster ICP
with added databases for the various first responders. Consider how much
more smoothly WTC ICP would have gone if the thousands of personnel on the
scene all had ID cards with a nationwide barcode scanning standard.

> >I'm not aware that FidoNet has actual access to Internet/Intranet and the
> >various technologies and options available there?

> FidoNet is packet radio.  All you need is a gateway computer
> somewhere with both Internet access (DSL, modem, whatever) and
> a radio.  It need not be attended.  FidoNet can extend as far
> as the radio signal.  Repeaters and store-and-forward stations
> can (and do) extend FidoNet communications across thousands of
> miles.

Thanks for the info. Limited to email and usenet, but better than no accesss
at all. The FidoNet web site doesn't offer a clear How To if someone wanted
to set up a regional emergency FidoNet system. Are you aware of any site
that provides that information?

~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs
Tulare County, CA
SAR, MSAR, Swiftwater Rescue, USAR