Mounted search and rescue

[Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>]

I have been training intensively, both as instructor and as student.
Our state police helicopter's fatal crash during a SAR mission in June
2009 was a big wake up call for all of us.  The National Transportation
Safety Board fact finding reports have been released online, we have a
new governor coming into office, and our statewide SAR community has
been organizing an amazing number and variety of trainings.  Meanwhile,
our state orienteering club also has been very busy with new projects
for maps and training events on those maps.  The intersection between
SAR training and orienteering is growing larger rapidly, as more SAR
training happens and the instructors assess their students' ability to
navigate in the field.  Although sport orienteering uses specially
made large scale maps, skills learned in sport orienteering are 100%
transferrable and invaluable to SAR.

My "new" horse turns out to have so many physical issues that she may
never be able to do MSAR in our mountains.  And if she cannot handle
climbs and descents, do I want to spend my time training her for MSAR 
just in case I can use her in "flat" terrain?  Too soon to tell.  Do
I want to support 2 horses?

Here is my SAR training (as a student) for 2010, 6 days in all:

Winter mock search
Public information officer course
Air operations branch director course
Communications unit leader course

In 2010 so far I have worked only 1 mission.  It was a good one though.
I participated in lifting a temporary flight restriction on the airspace
over Los Alamos National Laboratory, so that a rescue helicopter could
fly into the area.  We were going to use the helicopter to search but in
the meantime a ground team found the subject.  We did use the helicopter
to transfer the subject from the field to a helipad at a road, where the
subject was transfered to a ground ambulance.  This mission involved 2
federal agencies, as well as state and county agencies.

I have been busy running orienteering meets.  For what it's worth,
orienteering meets are remarkably similar to small SAR missions.  There
are orienteering clubs all over the world, and working as orienteering
meet staff is a great way for anyone interested in SAR management to
gain hands-on experience in planning, logistics, and operations.

Here is an orienteering club locator for the United States:
        http://orienteeringusa.org/club-leaders/club-directory

Here are ~1000 pages of reports about the New Mexico helicoper crash:
        http://www.ntsb.gov/dockets/aviation/CEN09PA348/

Cheers,

        Una Smith
        New Mexico