Mounted search and rescue

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

Chris makes good points. Her response area is similar to mine.

The team size for mounted should be incident-specific and even 
mission-specific. (Which is true of any SAR team size.) Minimum 2 for buddy 
system safety if the riders will be fairly accessible, which is true in many 
parts of the country. But what kind of terrain will the team be riding in, 
how accessible, and how far from other teams can be big factors.

In my CA county we usually send out hasty teams of 4 to clear trails and 
such. Our backcountry can be very steep and is very remote. A team of 4 can 
temporarily split into 2 teams of 2 in a mission pre-plan or in an 
emergency. A team of 4 also has enough people on scene to perform mounted 
rescue / evacuation if a chair carry lift is needed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs
www.ceoates.com/msar

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pennbo" <pennbo@bbv.net>
> > ALLEN SNYDER wrote:
> > > > In field work on foot we try to keep the team to no less than 4
> > > > persons if possible.  Does this also apply to MSAR?

> We like three in most instances. Four is also fine. We've found that
> unless the terrain is relatively flat and we are doing a grid search
> more than 4 in our area is not the best use of resources. For instance
> in the search we just did they deployed two mounted groups- one of 8 and
> one of 9. On the narrow trails we were riding the extra riders could not
> be effective searchers and might have been better used to cover more
> territory. Where, when, and how many mounted to deploy is an issue that
> we are working on - education as to capabilities, and limitations, is
> the goal.
>
> Chris Pennington