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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Search in King George County VA

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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  • From: "IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN" <ilichten1@verizon.net>
  • To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Search in King George County VA
  • Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 13:37:16 -0400

This is the area south of the Potomac north of the Chesapeake. East of
Fredricksburg, north of Fort AP Hill, south of the Dahlgren Naval Weapons
Station, and across the peninsula from PAX River NAS at Lexington, MD which
also has a USCG facility.

The question again arises, how far is too far? Depending on traffic and
exact route the drive from DC or Richmond is probably 90 minutes mostly on
Interstate 95, maybe the same from the Maryland line on 301. There are
usually large manpower and technology resources available at Fort Hill which
is a National Guard training facility.

At what point is a resource too long away for initial call out as opposed to
being alerted for the second or later operational period? Or are they called
out of their area with the idea that they will be allowed to rest on arrival
and shouldn't be counted on to work effectively for a period of time?

Lastly, this is the equivalent of "smells and bells" in the fire service.
Being cancelled on route or very shortly after the arrival of the first
responder to verify the alarm in person often leads to slowed response,
complacency, and burnout.

In 2008 the VFC I belong to ran 474 incidents, plus 79 scheduled training
and administrative events as a company. Of those 182 were unfounded
automatic alarms, and another 106 were out of town calls that resulted in no
activity. The fire company now schedules volunteer crews to cover the first
apparatus on alarm calls so the rest of us can go back to sleep. In the
fire service the next resource is usually minutes away and cover/standby
assignments may be 10-15 minutes away. In the search arena this may be
hours.

Our practice is to alert other agencies when we are out either on an
emergency or a scheduled service. They know we can't respond to their call
during this period and they may be asked to come to ours or cover us. Based
on an 8 hour operational period we try to plan 1 period ahead and request
resources that far ahead. This allows about 4 hours of travel or at the
most 200 miles. The rest of the time is used for unit mobilization, and
getting set up on arrival if needed (corrals, tents, refilling fuel, rest).
The practicality is that we don't want someone to drive 8 hours or more,
work immediately for 8-16 hours, and then drive home. Besides probably
violating a few labor laws it is the way to kill someone on the way home.
Compare your duty cycles with those of truck drivers. Driving a rig requires
attention and is limited to 10 hours per day by statute. Can you, while
excited by the dispatch, load, and then drive 6 hours to a call, get squared
away, and be in the field for hours without a break? And do your job.

Irv Lichtenstein



-----Original Message-----
From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of T'mi Fi
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 10:08 AM
To: msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [MSAR] Search in King George County VA

FYI: TROTSAR Mounted Team was deployed again this morning on a
state-wide callout for missing person in King George County Virginia
(VDEM mission #54722). Thankfully the subject was found alive and well
as MSAR responders were responding.

T'mi
www.trotsar.org

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