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  • From: Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>
  • To: Mounted search and rescue <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [MSAR] logistics write medical plans
  • Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:15:36 -0600

Irv wrote:
>logistics provides medical support for the SEARCHERS, not the subject.

Someone here in New Mexico put it like this: usually you write the medical
plan for the searchers, not for the subject. After all, you don't know where
the subject is or what medical care the subject needs. You can't complete
the plan until you have an actual medical problem to deal with, but you can
write in the resources available and the initial steps you would take for
any medical problem.

I am not a logistics section chief but I am involved in so many field events
that I decided I should write a medical plan for each recurring location,
for myself and other event managers to use. Also a communications plan. I
am finding it difficult to draw the line between what event managers can do,
what SAR can do, and where SAR should hand off the medical response to the
experts.

Say you're running a big trail ride ... or a training mission. Your medical
plan should list the names, locations, and phone numbers of the nearest
urgent care clinic, nearest emergency room, and nearest emergency response.
For me, wearing an event manager hat, the third category is basically "Call
911. If at trailhead request ambulance. If in field request SAR, talk to
SAR Area Commander". Actually writing a formal medical plan, I remembered
the existence of the urgent care clinic (a really good one), thought to find
out their hours of business, and realized that due to new road construction
all maps are out of date and anyone trying to use a map to get to the urgent
care clinic is likely to get lost and drive many miles out of their way. So
I copied a map at a scale that does not show the details, and wrote careful
directions and a note that maps are wrong at X so follow these directions.

Next I realized that if we use the other trailhead, it may be faster to go
to the other side of the mountains, but I do not know what medical services
are over there. Time to find out, eh? Also, when talking to a dispatcher,
it helps to know what jurisdiction you're in. Write that into the medical
plan.

Una Smith
New Mexico




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