Personal recommendations for MSAR include
- Have an expectation for training in the field in more challenging
environments, not just the easy areas.
- If your local team has extra mounts suitable for saddling and transporting
others, this opens up a lot of versatility, including ...
- If the extra saddle horses are available, provide a Horse 101: The
Educated Passenger class to the ground pounders so they are more comfortable
around the livestock and have potential to be transported by MSAR.
- Strongly recommend MSAR and non-Mounted learning Mounted Evacuation
assessment and techniques.
- Identify ways Mounted can successfully mix with and supplement
non-Mounted.
- Encourage riders to cross-train in other disciplines to - at minimum - be
useful assisting other specialties. (Example, topside for technical rescue.)
- MSAR teams have potential to add a specialty and respond as Mounted
Medical, etc.
- Encourage an MSAR Support person (or more) at the ICP / Staging Area. That
creates opportunity for some valuable management options. (Example: Support
is a driver to provide horse trailer shuttle service to drop off and pick up
an MSAR team so you're not limited to missions riding from camp or parking a
rig and needing to return to it.) If this person is also qualified as a
Liaison, you can also pick that person's brain regarding capabilities and
limitations of the local MSAR team.
- Mounted has the potential to ride, drag and pull. Explore those options
related to search, and to rescue.
- MSAR is a viable resource in disasters, so some WMD / hazard awareness
training is strongly recommended for safety. (And apparently there will be a
required course for all disaster responders.) With the convergence of SAR
and disaster response already happening, SAR / MSAR should be including at
least basic disaster training. More disaster-related training just makes
MSAR more versatile. For example, riders can get CERT training.
That's the short list. Some of my personal suggestions regarding MSAR are
available in published articles. If anyone is interested, I'm also willing
to share more thoughts for those of you who haven't attended my course on
Effective Use of Mounted in SAR and Disasters. ;)
For those of you who aren't already aware, I'm involved in a lot of aspects
of both SAR and disaster. But my primary area of expertise is regarding
Mounted SAR. 45+ years around the horses, a daughter who competed all-around
for many years under a world class trainer so I learned a lot about horse
shows and more about horse versatility, Paint horse breeder www.ceoates.com
, Backcountry Horsemen, ex-cop, SAR Hasty Team management, CERT / Citizen
Corps management and incident IC/Ops related to volunteers in 2 counties,
etc. I saw a need and combined all that experience to identify options for
Mounted SAR that usually aren't on the radar for either management level or
the MSAR teams for SAR and/or disaster response. The end result is the class
I teach at SAR conferences and make available to counties/organizations to
bring me in to put on a workshop.
NASAR asked me to start up a Task Force regarding Mounted SAR, and the team
keeps electing me as Chair. I'm also the point of contact for the NASAR
Mounted SAR section indicated on the NASAR website. The Task Force has been
great to work with. Very knowledgeable, and very dedicated. (Some of the
others on the Task Force lurk here, and post infrequently.) We were in the
process of developing NASAR MSAR standards when NASAR decided to work with
ASTM regarding standards and focus on training and certification with the
SARTECH program. So our Task Force focus has been adjusted to include
working through ASTM to develop international standards for MSAR. Not a fast
process, but it will get done! ;)
Again, ASTM will have the international standards, in the F-32 section
regarding Search and Rescue. NASAR will offer certification for Mounted
SARTECH in the NASAR SARTECH program. The rider will be required to meet the
related ground SAR standards, then meet the Mounted requirements.
www.nasar.org www.astm.org
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs
Tulare SAR - Hasty Team ICP Team
www.ceoates.com/sar
Tulare-Kings CERT
www.tk-cert.org
[MSAR] Mounted SAR Standards (Part 2),
Jorene Downs, 10/18/2004