Mounted search and rescue

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

Hello MSAR-Riders,

Below is a compilation of e-mails over several days between myself and 
Cynthia 
Arnold of Stillwater County SAR in Montana, USA.  She contacted the New Mexico
SAR Council, and I responded as a member of the NMSARC Board.  This is Cc'd to
her and to the New Mexico SAR community e-mail discussion list, NMSAR-forum.

Regards all,

        Una Smith
        New Mexico


Stillwater County SAR wrote to the Board of New Mexico SAR Council (NMSARC):
>>>>>> Subject: SAR Policies and Procedures
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Good Morning,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My name is Crystal Arnold and I am contacting NMSARC regarding the
>>>>>> guidelines, certifications and various information I have found on your
>>>>>> website.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ill try not to flood you with to much information but to get the point
>>>>>> quickly, I am an officer with a county SAR team in Montana. We have 
>>>>>> been
>>>>>> working on a set of standards with-in our county for quite some time. 
>>>>>> Your
>>>>>> qualifications, training and testing information on your website is 
>>>>>> exactly
>>>>>> where we would like to be someday. 
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We are growing fairly rapidly and have managed to maintain a pretty
>>>>>> consistent management team (Board of Directors) with the same goals 
>>>>>> for the
>>>>>> last several years.  In that time we have held meetings, trainings and
>>>>>> formed committees with the goal of consistency and quality in mind. WE 
>>>>>> have
>>>>>> met in a room for hours on end coming up with policies and procedures 
>>>>>> that
>>>>>> apply to our team given the terrain, missions etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The state of Montana does not have a SAR standard, so each county is on
>>>>>> their own to set those levels. A few of us from our county team are on 
>>>>>> state
>>>>>> SAR committees with the goal of achieving a state standard but its been
>>>>>> ongoing for 30 years!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To get back to the reason for the email, I would to ask your 
>>>>>> permission to
>>>>>> use some of the information you have on the internet, with credit 
>>>>>> given to
>>>>>> your organization (and references used) of course?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We have come to the point where we have established the training
>>>>>> requirements and the 'protocols' for our members, however we havent
>>>>>> established the testing, or ability to measure the qualifications of 
>>>>>> our
>>>>>> members. We have found it to be a fine line between setting the 
>>>>>> standards to
>>>>>> meet our people, vs setting a standard our people need to meet. IN 
>>>>>> addition
>>>>>> to that we struggle with eliminating half the team trying to set a 
>>>>>> goal that
>>>>>> is to high. Along with policy and procedure-ing ourselves to death.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I personally am one of the few volunteers that doesn't have a job 
>>>>>> outside of
>>>>>> search and rescue, so I find myself doing a lot of the research, 
>>>>>> completing
>>>>>> the paperwork for volunteer files, website, facebook, and so on. I am 
>>>>>> also a
>>>>>> K9 handler with a separate search dog group so Im what is referred to 
>>>>>> a a
>>>>>> little 'neurotic' about such things. I do enjoy doing it all, but I've 
>>>>>> also
>>>>>> found that we might be reinventing the wheel :)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Our main goal right now is to come up with a training guide and
>>>>>> certification test for our new members which is what led me to your 
>>>>>> website.
>>>>>> Your study guide came up in my several hour search of  various SAR hand
>>>>>> guides. It was very motivating to see something so well put together 
>>>>>> and as
>>>>>> simple to understand, as it would be to follow.  
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As I mentioned, I wanted to contact your organization to ask 
>>>>>> permission to
>>>>>> use various sections, as well as say Thank You for making it 
>>>>>> accessible to
>>>>>> others!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In addition we would appreciate any advice you have in going forward 
>>>>>> from
>>>>>> here, we want to make sure the county team may continue to run as a 
>>>>>> team
>>>>>> long after we are gone.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thank you for any time you may give and I/We look forward to hearing 
>>>>>> from
>>>>>> you,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -- 
>>>>>> Crystal Arnold
>>>>>> Stillwater County Sheriffs Search and Rescue Vice President
>>>>>> www.StillwaterCountySAR.org

NMSARC Board member Una Smith wrote:
>>>>> Fellow members of the NMSARC Board,
>>>>>
>>>>> Crystal Arnold's e-mail is just one more indication of the tremendous 
>>>>> value of
>>>>> our Field Certification Study Guide.  I have received similar feedback 
>>>>> from the
>>>>> worldwide mounted SAR community, that the Study Guide is widely used 
>>>>> and highly
>>>>> valued outside New Mexico as a training tool.
>>>>>
>>>>> On occasion here in New Mexico I hear the suggestion that we discard 
>>>>> our Field
>>>>> Certification program and replace it with NASAR's SARTECH III and II 
>>>>> program.
>>>>> I always wonder why our program seems to be so undervalued here in New 
>>>>> Mexico!
>>>>>
>>>>> I understand Crystal organized the Montana SAR rendezvous in 2011 that 
>>>>> got such
>>>>> terrific reviews.  For example:
>>>>>
>>>>>         
>>>>> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/msar-riders/2011q2/007028.html


Stillwater County SAR wrote:
>>>> *Una & NMSARC board,*
>>>> *
>>>> *Thank you for your responses and the kind words regarding the 
>>>> rendezvous!*
>>>> *
>>>> *I haven't been able to see how your teams field certification process is
>>>> carried out but based on the study guide it looks like an incredibly
>>>> valuable tool to have! As I mentioned we have various levels of training
>>>> and skills we desire, as well as a minimum level of training before
>>>> deploying. However we don't have the 'test' or what I would say 
>>>> consistent
>>>> way to evaluate that, which is why we would greatly appreciate hearing 
>>>> more
>>>> about how your organization does that.*
>>>> *
>>>> *We have researched and considered NASAR's program, some of their
>>>> evaluations work great for us, some do not. So we still find ourselves
>>>> adjusting portions their tech program, as we would any that wasn't 
>>>> created
>>>> with our terrain and mission requirements in mind. At the end of the day 
>>>> it
>>>> comes down to the fee's at this point in time. Our county struggles with
>>>> funding, like most, and its tough to convince anyone to pay money for a
>>>> certification process that doesn't quite cover all we need. *
>>>> *
>>>> *We have countless hours into our training program so if we have even 
>>>> half
>>>> the effort into it as the folks who worked on your field test and study
>>>> guide, then we have a great level of respect and appreciation for their
>>>> work! We understand  things change, technology evolves, and requirements
>>>> need adjusting so hopefully our work will always be appreciated and
>>>> possibly one day help another team as they grow, just as yours is doing!*
>>>> *
>>>> *If we could ask something specifically, would it be possible to ask how
>>>> you have managed to test or evaluate the horses on the mounted team?
>>>> We don't use horses often, hard to believe in Montana, however its always
>>>> been an interpretive process on the horses that are considered sound for
>>>> the back country. Is there an actual evaluation or test that you have 
>>>> found
>>>> to put a specific horse/rider through?*
>>>> *
>>>> *We have a policy and guidelines for deploying the horse team, but there 
>>>> is
>>>> still a gray area on deciding when a horse is considered 'certified' to 
>>>> go
>>>> into the field? This also leads to evaluating the horse a patient would
>>>> need to be put on, the bomb proof horse?*
>>>> *
>>>> *I apologize that question gets away from the basic field responder
>>>> evaluation process but it seems to be an area you may have a lot more
>>>> experience in.*
>>>> *
>>>> *Thanks again for the responses so far, we look forward to hearing from
>>>> everyone!

Una Smith wrote:
>>> Crystal,
>>>
>>> The Field Certification evaluation is, as described on the NMSARC 
>>> website, a
>>> combination of two written tests (ICS, Field Certification Study Guide), a
>>> pack check, and a very basic test of the person's ability to take a 
>>> compass
>>> bearing on a distant object.  We have a basic training program for 
>>> so-called
>>> Field Cert evaluators, who are the people who conduct the evaluations.  
>>> The
>>> entire program is outside the NMSAR Council, however.  The Council is a 
>>> membership organization of our volunteer SAR teams.  Field Certification 
>>> is
>>> a program of our agency having jurisdiction, through our state SAR 
>>> Resource
>>> Office.  The most appropriate contact person for the program, who can best
>>> answer your operational questions about how the program is administered, 
>>> is
>>> Frank Mulholland <TheMulhollandGroup@gmail.com>.
>>>
>>> You, or someone else in Montana, might consider attending one of our Field
>>> Certification evaluations as an observer.  We hold one every year during 
>>> our
>>> annual SAR conference, called ESCAPE.  Next ESCAPE will be in May 2013.  
>>> On
>>> the NMSAR Council calendar are other Field Certification evaluation 
>>> dates.  
>>> The next one is November 3rd near Santa Fe.  At ESCAPE we may also hold 
>>> the
>>> class to qualify new evaluators;  you might want to observe that too.
>>>
>>> Most of the training and qualifying of individual SAR responders here in 
>>> New
>>> Mexico is handled by the teams.  We have many dozens of teams, a few of 
>>> them
>>> connected with county sheriff's offices.
>>>
>>> Our mounted teams train and qualify their horses to their own team 
>>> internal
>>> standards.  Those vary a great deal from team to team.  I know that some 
>>> of
>>> our NM mounted SAR teams have members who subscribe to the e-mail 
>>> discussion
>>> group MSAR-Riders, where as a worldwide community we have developed a 
>>> number
>>> of procedures for training and assessment.  A common procedure is 
>>> basically
>>> an arena event:  a sensory aka despooking clinic or trail obstacle course
>>> in format similar to an AQH Trail Horse competition.  Another is to work 
>>> as
>>> safety rider on endurance trail rides or other sanctioned competitive 
>>> field
>>> events.  Participation as a competitor in sanctioned field events is one
>>> more popular method of assessment.  For more info about MSAR-Riders, see:
>>>
>>>     http://www.ibiblio.org/msar/msar-riders
>>>
>>> With your permission, I will forward your questions specific to mounted 
>>> SAR
>>> to MSAR-Riders.

Una Smith wrote:
>> By the way, the NMSARC calendar entry for the Field Certification on 
>> November 3
>> (http://nmsarc.org/calendar/view_entry.php?date=20121103&id=285) describes 
>> in a
>> little more detail how the Field Certification works.

Stillwater County SAR wrote:
> *Thank, you and please forward any questions to the appropriate person(s).
> Im afraid my response to the board was bounced back since I am not a member
> of the list.*
> *
> *A couple of quick questions, is there a probationary period before you may
> take the field certification? Or is it just when the test is
> given/candidate feels they are ready?*
> *How extensive is the written test?*
> *
> *We currently have a checklist the candidate must complete before they can
> be considered for active call out but I would like to see a test of some
> sort required before going into the field.
  
The Field Certification written test is approximately 50 questions with 
multiple
choice answers.  Note that to take the test the individual must first complete
some training elsewhere and show a certificate of it to the Field 
Certification
evaluators.

Your other questions concern issues that in New Mexico are handled at the 
level
of teams, not by the state agency having jurisdiction nor the state SAR 
council.
Those questions would be better to address to a large forum such as 
MSAR-Riders.

I am copying this to MSAR-Riders for their information and any more comments.

        Una