Mounted search and rescue

[tm'-fi <TFinkle@erols.com>]

Jorene Downs wrote:

 what minimum skill levels do you believe aren't addressed by the proposed NASAR MSAR Practical standards?  Or, what do you think needs to be changed to provide better "balance" in the proposed standards? (I don't see anything posted by you on www.smartgroups.com/groups/NASAR-MSAR )

Jorene, maybe we can find time to talk about this topic later this week,
at the NASAR conference in Virginia.  Months ago I posted comments (on the
MSAR Riders Site) regarding the need for balance on the NASAR-MSAR project.
 Since most of the NASAR-MSAR committee work is done in private, you will
not see any of my comments on the your site (I use the word "your" since
you're the committee Chair).

Please know the following comments are not meant to be hurtful, towards you
or your committee member.  I know that the five of you are truly trying to
do the best with this project and have a great deal of respect for you all.
 However, from its conception, I believe that NASAR has not properly represented
all regions of the Country, nor have they fairly represented teams within
the MSAR community.   When I had applied for the NASAR-MSAR committee, back
when they first sought volunteers, I was advised that only one member per
State would be allowed.  Yet once the committee members were announced, it
was learned that one state had two members.  I was told the reason behind
the selection, was because it was a big state ( I am glad the US Senate does
not work that way).    Balance should have started with the committee its
self, which has two representatives from the State of California (40% presence
of the committee), while only one MSAR team East of the Mississippi River
was selected.  Well rounded ideas begin with a diverse pool of professionals,
which includes hiring outside resources.  As for other area of balance for
the standards, I have identified a couple of areas that could be addressed,
but feel it's best not discuss them here in this forum.

I fully realize that having proper ground SAR skills is of utmost importance,
regardless of a person's secondary SAR specialty. I personally feel that
a set of minimum MSAR standards should be for all Mounted teams throughout
the Country, and not a document under the control and guidelines of a single
organization.  There are a several SAR organizations that have testing levels
similar in nature as those of NASAR and I would like to see the words "or
equivalent" included with any MSAR (draft) standard.  If I am going to submit
my personal opinions, comments or ideas to be used in a set of standards,
it will not be to a single organization who plans to market them as their
own.  I would be happy to offer assistance to develop standards that can
be incorporated by mounted SAR personnel, regardless of their SAR affiliation.

 

However, I'm open to suggestion. ;)

 

If someone is planning to launch a new organization specific to MSAR, complete with standards, quality controlled testing, etc., I'd like to hear more details.

 

If someone is planning to roll out a "national standard" for MSAR without starting a new organization to provide certification with quality control, I'd like to hear the strategy of how this is supposed to work.

 

The best advice that I can offer, is for NASAR to hire the services of a
MSAR professional for their input (such as Kathy Roberts, who has written
two different books on the topic).   If we meet later in the week, I would
happy to show you a (sample)  25 question written entry level test that would
be applicable for MSAR personnel, regarding their equine knowledge.  I may
also be able to provide some insight to what a couple of MSAR projects that
other organizations are working on. As for quality control, a post from the
MSAR-Riders dated 1-27-04, provided an excellent source for standards information.

01-27-04: To revisit an old topic, I visited http://www.ihserc.com today and
searched their database of other organizations' standards for the
words "search" and "rescue".  There were 90 search results, each a
document, from organizations including ASTM, the US Army and Navy,
NATO, BSI, GOST, ICAO, and many others.  Among them, 3 standards
from ASTM relating to SAR dogs.

Tomi'
TROT-SAR
State of Maryland