Mounted search and rescue

[<Jorene@CEOates.com>]

From: "Una Smith" <una@lanl.gov>
> Jorene has mentioned she does not belong to NASAR.  I hope she
> and the rest of the committee will make it a priority not only
> to join NASAR, but to take courses and pass the certifications
> for at a minimum SARTECH II.  Before even attempting to write
> a leader/management level standard, you all really should know
> from firsthand experience what the SARTECH I standard entails.

Committee members are already SARTECH II certified or equivalent -  or
higher - or NASAR wouldn't have accepted all of us to be part of the team to
write MSAR standards for NASAR. ;)   All have SAR Management / leadership
experience, some more than others, and several with experience and training
beyond the scope of  SARTECH I standards that will be very applicable to
MSAR standards. And if I recall correctly, all have some experience writing
SAR / MSAR standards - a big bonus. But if any of us need reminding about
specific SARTECH requirements at the different levels, we need only refer to
NASAR's publication "Standards for SARTECH III, II, I and Crewleader III."
If for some reason we need clarification, we can certainly turn to our
"expert sources" for additional guidance. ;)

Regardless, we're working on MSAR standards with the understanding that
personnel will also have certain pre-defined ground SAR training, and the
MSAR standards are not the source for those standards. What we'll address
are issues that are MSAR-specific. And that in itself is a huge task,
particularly since we're also seeking outside input (that will be time
consuming!), so I hope nobody is expecting fast results! ;)

As I mentioned previously, we're getting close to having something written
that is far enough along to share and ask for comments. I'm looking forward
to seeing some input from people at all levels, living in different areas.
Input from people fairly new to MSAR will be just as valuable as input from
those with more experience.

Regardless if anyone chooses to comment here - I sure hope that "normal"
MSAR-Rider discussion is predominant because it is a great source for all of
us! -  please visit http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/NASAR-MSAR  and join
the Group to be able to vote. While any discussion here has potential to
point us in a direction, we'll be relying on guidance from that Group to
provide more specific input using the Vote feature online. But please don't
expect a lot of opportunity to vote yet - we're still in the early stages of
MSAR standards development! ;)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs, Committee Chair
NASAR MSAR Standards Committee
visit NASAR on www.nasar.org