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Subject: Mounted search and rescue
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- From: "wwfarm" <wwfarm@wiktel.com>
- To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [MSAR] Search for Dru - part 2
- Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 09:14:17 -0800
Search for Dru - Part 2
December 4
Don't let your feelings get
hurt. The first day or so we did not officially get called
out. The search was not in our county. Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or at least try! We waited until the call went out to the public for help. We then went as an organized group without our colors flying. We knew we had a lot to offer in one way or another. When we arrived, two of the head law enforcement officers said, "Thank goodness your team is here". In all the confusion it seems we had been over looked. Be Humble. Before we went to the search, we had a meeting of our directors. We decided ahead of time on a politically correct way to approach search management. We decided that we would not go in expecting them to recognize our skill levels. Since the county where the search was held does have an excellent Sheriffs Posse and Fire Rescue squad that normally handles SAR we wanted to handle this situation delicately being careful not to ruffle territorial feathers. Offer, Do Not Expect. We offered our assistance to search management without expecting a major role as we have had in other SAR missions. First thing in the morning some of our top team leaders were
assigned to different
teams under less
experienced leaders. They did what they were told and only
offered suggestions. Search management
soon recognized our experience, and
by noon the first day we were assigned our own base camp
with volunteers assigned
to us for deployment. They may not have had much choice, with
1300 volunteers this
day and a potential crime scene that was about 40 miles long
and 15 miles wide according
to tips and clues. It was WILD! No matter how it all came
about, our team was once
again together and things started rolling
like a well greased wheel! Separately we
are
not half as good as we are together, we
complement and recognize each others
strong points.
Be Prepared. Our mobil base camp is our Sheriff's suburban along with our posse trailer, which is decaled just like a sheriff's patrol car with our posse name on it. We carry everything from proper paper work, photo copy machine, duck boat, generators, heaters, communication equipment, etc. The command center tells us where to set up and we take different groups under our wing and deploy as needed. We used our duck boat to check out rivers that were 3/4 frozen over. We also brought harrow sections to pull behind our ATVs to help kick out possible evidence in road ditches that had 3 to 5 inches of snow in them. (A specialized search technique that our team developed.) Individually It was a real challenge to be prepared, chemical
and electric hand and
feet warmers were a poplar item. It was hard to figure out how
much clothing to wear.
For a quarter of a mile you could be working
hard walking through wooden areas and getting
overly warm. The next
quarter mile you would be out in a 30 mph wind and freeze.
Act Professional. The command center was being manned by law enforcement management types with whom we were not familiar. We relied on our training to keep a professional image. When we turned in our
paper work, all the Ts were
crossed and the Is were dotted, and management
personnel began to
take notice. After a couple days, we were put in the heart of
prime search areas.
Note from TER - Trust me, we learned a lot
more but since the search is still on I do
not have time to continue at this point. If there is interest
I will share more in the future.
Yesterday was another wild day, reports are saying 1700
volunteers! One of our
team went up in a plane, he said it was unbelievable! It
looked like the whole county was
moving!
TER
|
-
[MSAR] Search for Dru - part 2,
wwfarm, 12/06/2003
- Re: [MSAR] Search for Dru - part 2, JULIE FRANCO, 12/08/2003
-
[MSAR] Re: Search for Dru - part 2,
Una Smith, 12/09/2003
- [MSAR] Re: Search for Dru - part 2, Una Smith, 12/10/2003
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