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msar-riders - [MSAR] Response time / Search in King George County VA

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  • From: "Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>
  • To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [MSAR] Response time / Search in King George County VA
  • Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 18:21:29 -0700

Irv, while you have a valid point regarding not sending exhausted personnel
promptly into the field, I think you need to remember within PA you're in a
small and far more accessible response area compared to SAR / MSAR in other
parts of the country. Response time expectations can vary greatly. At any
incident responder arrivals may be delayed, and management simply deploys as
the resources are available. Also, there are methods to reduce potential for
more distant resources to arrive needing to sleep.

Keep in perspective that there are operational areas across the country
larger than many of the east coast states. Some incidents are rather remote
within large counties, and those same counties may / may not have much of a
population base or conveniently nearby SAR resources. With vast national
parks and forests and limited access roads, SAR responders living outside
those boundaries may be hours away. "Hasty Teams" in those regions may be on
the road in under 30 minutes, yet still take hours to arrive. So response
time expectations can be very different across the country, much less around
the world.

For example, Hasty Team response in my own county (the size of CT) in CA
often requires 3-6 hours of driving simply to arrive at the remote location
where the command post is established ... and that is traveling at speed
with a marked patrol unit escort. Due to the steep and winding narrow
mountain roads, anyone hauling a trailer - particularly with live cargo -
takes notably longer. Mutual Aid response may come from many hours drive
further away.

Irv suggested comparing with truck drivers. I suggest good preplanning is
more like team driving truck drivers where one can sleep while the other
drives. Several years ago I recall a SAR Dog team responding to a mutual aid
incident in my county from 8 hours away ... and arrived ready to go to work.


Responders with a longer travel time can often travel in shared vehicles,
allowing others in the vehicle to sleep. Rotate drivers and everyone has the
opportunity to catch a few hours of sleep. This is good pre-planning and a
good Best Practice since those longer response time resources are often
ready to be deployed when they arrive.

Management may send responders with nominal sleep to rest prior to being
assigned to a mission. Other responders may be deployed with instructions to
sleep in the field after searching a particular area. Another key safety
issue is to make sure personnel have adequate rest prior to making the long
drive home.

- - - - - -
Jorene Downs
SAR & CERT
Mounted SAR
www.ceoates.com/msar



-----Original Message-----
From: IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN

[...]
The question again arises, how far is too far? [...] 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?
[...]
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.






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