The first major problem on site is the cold and the snow. Depending on the horses and people acclimation and gear this can be a stay home and wait for Spring or an emergency response. Two feet of snow was probably tough going even for larger horses and definitely a hauling hazard. On the technology front a thermal imaging device or a FLIR may pick up the heat of a still warm survivor or body but generally speaking in wind driven snow visibility and hearing will be greatly reduced. We haven't had a lot of snow in the East lately but what has come in has come in blizzard conditions--high winds, low temperatures, heavy snow fall often followed by a few days above freezing. Open fields are optimum for aerial searching. Given white snow and probably dark clothes on the subject a good ground contrast would develop. Also, a field that has been left since harvesting will probably be smooth and the body will show as a lump or other unsmooth feature. I am surprised the subject made it as far as they did in the described weather and after a crash, although survival is a driver in these situations. I worked with a USAF officer who had been stationed at Minot. Two base security persons got stuck in a 4x4 in a snow storm and despite standing orders to wait it out in the bed of the pickup they grabbed their gear and started hiking to a farmhouse whose lights they saw. They made less than 100 yards. Irv Lichtenstein SE PA SAR _______________________________________________ MSAR-Riders mailing list MSAR-Riders@lists.ibiblio.org http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/msar-riders
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