We've had troubles (more in the past) determining who may be suitable
members when interviewing applicants. "I think it would be fun..." is a
phrase that sets a red flag in my mind. Sure, I enjoy doing this, but
fun isn't the first reason in my mind.
We make it clear to all applicants that we train as an emergency
response team. Yes, we do parades, patrol the county fair, do National
Night Out and safety fairs, but we only train for SAR.
We have a minimum attendance requirement, and an annual qualification
test that all members must take. Our qualification test is sort of a
obstacle test for horse and rider.
All new members must attend our mounted patrol academy. This consists
of three classes. First is a classroom, three hour class covering who
we are and what we do, policies, requirements, along with segments on
radio use, map reading, and basic search and rescue. (Please note that
Minnesota is one of many states with no SAR standards. We have to make
our own.)
Our other two classes are field classes. The first of these is
Equitation and formation riding. I'm not fond of formation riding, but
every search we ride in some type of formation and it is better to work
out the bugs in training rather than on a mission.
Our last class has a radio/compass combined training and a search
senario.
Some of our veteran members attend the academy as a refresher and to
help our new members.
This all gives applicants a better idea of what we do and what is
required. We still have some turnover, but it is much less that before
we started the academy.
I agree with Irv that 15 is too few members. our optimum number is
25. We can be confident of good coverage. Too many more than that
seems hard to manage.
Hopefully, this gives some good ideas.
Kevin Stokes
Washington County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol
[MSAR] member requirements,
Kevin Stokes, 02/15/2009