Mounted search and rescue

["IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN" <ilichten1@verizon.net>]

Mountain bikes only make sense if the persons using them are practiced.  Since rubber tired vehicles are limited in where they can go in many areas the riders are not

practiced searching. Hasty team instruction/briefing is short and sweet: description of subject, subject’s vehicle, possible equipment/clothing, goal or activity. Unless the family is available or the police verified the report medical conditions are usually not given in the beginning. They are to look for clues, not analyze them. Every footprint is important until ruled out, every parked car of the same make and model is important, every everything is important. 

 

ATV’s are the most useless search tool ever put in the field—too loud, too destructive, scary, and usually illegal to use anywhere except during an emergency so there is no practice time or space. But they are relatively easy to track—just follow the torn up terrain. Maybe dirt bikes are worse.  

 

Irv Lichtenstein  

 

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From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of pennbo@verizon.net
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 1:19 PM
To: msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Hasty Mounted Team?

 

Your first sentence is what drives me batty! Frequently here the hasty team is an ATV team!!! They destroy any clues on the trail, travel too fast to spot most off trail clues, and are too loud (and complicated with the addition of helmets) to hear any auditory clues! I am hoping that eventually those in charge will realize the fallacy of sending motorized anythings out as a hasty team. Now mountain bikes make some sense but not ATVs!!!
Chris

”It is also necessary to verify the initial data to avoid trampling clues,
going too fast into all out mode, and make sure you know who you are looking
for. This is not always done before deploying a hasty team leading to false
starts. Several papers have been written on the early stage of search
missions, generally describing the PLOPS mode usually encountered.

Irv Lichtenstein “