South East Search and Rescue Associates

An excellent coverage of how Lost Person Behavior data and other science is moving forward in search management. Little long but gets you thinking about how best to search.
https://undark.org/2024/01/22/science-search-rescue/?fbclid=IwAR1oPk-0S7yBYjdldxWMpgYwiMSd4bDoSJQJyjEawSOzsEFMt2XX2gsVLIk

The Burgeoning Science of Search and Rescue By analyzing reports of people who got off track, researchers are advancing the science of “lost person behavior.”

Thinking about a drone for Christmas? The FAA folks want you to be aware of the rules/regulations/ and best practices for using your drone.

FAA Launches 2023 Holiday “12 Days of Drones” Safety Campaign | Federal Aviation Administration WASHINGTON – If you are considering a drone as a holiday gift, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants you and your loved ones to understand how to fly it safely.

A story from Alaska on another survivor. First rule, check the structure, second rule, check the structure again!

Juneau man missing since Saturday found safe inside assisted living facility Riverview staff found 58-year-old Nathan Wilder Bishop, who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia, in the attic around noon.

Two lessons here. One dementia walkaways can live a long time. Two it pays to properly organize a search effort from the beginning.

Missing Elderly Woman with Alzheimer's Found in Neighbor's Garage After a Week | The Florida Vibe | NewsBreak Original In a strange twist to a missing person's case in Florida, an 80-year-old Alzheimer's patient, Margaret Galloway, was found in a neighbor's garage after a week-long search. The non-verbal woman had been accidentally locked in, surviving six days without food, water, or light.

We had a great class in Forsyth County GA on Oct. 10-11 2023. They all found Andy on the first evening! Timmy Smith also got found.

This could happen at a park near you. Remember to pursue both scenarios until one disproves the other.

New York police still searching for 9-year-old who disappeared during camping trip: 'Every parent's nightmare' Multiple agencies are assisting in the search for a 9-year-old Charlotte Sena, who went missing from a state park during a camping trip with her family.

Can your jurisdiction afford NOT to train search managers.
https://recreation-law.com/2022/10/24/interesting-ca-case-on-sheriffs-failure-to-start-sar-run-sar/?fbclid=IwAR11BddOyGuuLoVzrXOQdn1wpQ6UnSBYwnv9hG-QFm2Sq90Vz0lwjeuRvdo

Interesting CA case on sheriff’s failure to start SAR & run SAR County lost appeal because employees’ actions were out of line and the deceased, at least from the facts presented could have easily been found before he died. Arista v. Cnty. of Riverside (C…

How about a worst case rescue scenario. This ongoing cave rescue is in the middle of nowhere in Southern Turkey The patient is critically ill 3,000 feet BELOW the entrance in one of the worlds deep caves. The temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit. There are waterfalls and river passages to traverse just to reach the patient and 40 to 70 vertical pitches that require rope rigging. Just think of the language problem, the patient is American, the Medical team cavers are Bulgarian and the local cave rescue team is Turkish.

https://www.caverescue.hu/index.php/en/component/content/article/torokorszagban-1000-meter-mely-barlangban-segitunk-en?catid=10&Itemid=1545&fbclid=IwAR20Ppmd_2NvWhlC46fNtKG9lKIWTNaw2AZgPbOVLGD9g6sfkZFFRfIs9ys

Rescue in a 1000 meters deep cave in Turkey Magyar Barlangi Mentőszolgálat: barlangokban, nehezen megközelíthető helyen bajba jutott, megsérült személyek mentése. Barlangi mentés, hegyi mentés, alpin ment

Another one of those you can't make this stuff up SAR calls.
https://www.gotheborg.se/news/rescue-of-sailing-boat/?fbclid=IwAR1NeD19rdK5djWZrq5PLtx_SYvzOh_P7dnX-VR4flCT5I33RyZp6w9BH88

Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg | Götheborg of Sweden Imagine losing your rudder out at sea and sending out a distress call. And then the largest ocean-going wooden sailing ship in the world comes to your rescue. Or in the words of the sailors on the sailing boat: "This moment was very strange, and we wondered if we were dreaming. Where were we? What t...

How are your map reading skills? How about an online quiz. I took it and got 8 out of 20 ! try it and you will see why.
https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/map-reading-quiz/?fbclid=IwAR1-Tgp3UmZd-ibRjnaG4TOC-Ci6BiymsRyvr9cBLmBoGBrkZM8ACQJFND8

Take the Map Reading quiz! | OS GetOutside Test your knowledge of map reading and British geography with our quick map reading quiz.

A lesson to be learned. No training, bad assumptions and a man died. Successful lawsuit. https://recreation-law.com/2022/10/24/interesting-ca-case-on-sheriffs-failure-to-start-sar-run-sar/?fbclid=IwAR367UffOSmokPs6-RwGipL8XH_YXWULe9TY_yQJCOZ4oGq6Lb42I4jbqj0

Interesting CA case on sheriff’s failure to start SAR & run SAR County lost appeal because employees’ actions were out of line and the deceased, at least from the facts presented could have easily been found before he died. Arista v. Cnty. of Riverside (C…

Borrowed from another SAR site. Enjoy these truisms.

An excellent article on just what it takes and how long it takes to get a simple ankle injury out of the backcountry.

r/PacificCrestTrail on Reddit: I'll just call SAR (long) Posted by u/jbochsler - 192 votes and 33 comments

We had a great Basic Skills class with the Stephens County GA SAR Team. I would definitely want these folks looking for me if I was lost.

Poor decision followed by several good decisions led to successful rescue.

US man puts phone on drone to send rescue message After getting stuck in snow in Oregon, one man uses an unusual method of attracting attention.

What do we always say: SEARCH THE HOUSE, SEARCH THE HOUSE!

Woman Finds Husband's Body While Getting Christmas Decorations from a Closet 8 Months After He Went Missing The wife of Richard Maedge, 53, found his body in a storage area under a staircase inside their home eight months after he disappeared

Proper use of a map and compass is a basic SAR skill. Do you need a refresher? Here is an excellent 7 minute video.

How to Use a Compass || REI Navigation is one of the Ten Essentials and most outdoor speople take a compass with them on every adventure. But how do you use them? In this REI Expert Adv...

Need a topographic map? Need a custom topo map centered on your directed point? Go to the source of ALL topo map data: the US Geological Survey. They now offer a service to create maps for you and send you the digital file you can print . Read all about it here:

OnDemand Topo Maps Officially Join USGS National Map Offerings | U.S. Geological Survey The people have spoken! OnDemand Topo maps and topoBuilder were so popular that we're ending the pilot phase of the project and making topoBuilder a permanent offering of the National Map.

A very British look at "North" Imagine a place in time and location where Magnetic, Grid, and True North are the same. A great explanation for map users

Once a Millennium Alignment of All Three Norths Get your North by North-North tour merch here! https://standupmaths.teemill.com/collection/north-north-north/If you're anywhere near Worth Matravers in Dorse...

The SAR mapping software called SARTopo is an excellent tool for search planning and resource management. Learn all about it and how to utilize it's features in this 2 hour video. Excellent training,

Getting Started with SARTopo for Mission Management Webinar Recording June 2, 2020

Last Thursday, Friday, Saturday we had a great Basic SAR Skills class in Lumpkin County GA. The EMA the FD and the SO have come together to create a talented group of volunteers. This group has some serious skills and they function as a team quite well. Their POD was better than predicted and those clues got found.

We had another great class in Forsyth County GA this week. They noticed really quick that Hub was not a good eye witness.

A NEW Lost Person Questionnaire form is available. This new form captures so much new information compared to the old form we have been using for years and years. Download it now. It comes from "Christopher Young's Intelligent Search book"

MPQ Interview Form - C Young v6-1 01-06-2022.pdf

Ten thousand SOS calls, where were they from and what were they for? See the data here. https://bikepacking.com/news/garmin-sos-data/?fbclid=IwAR0cFEubiKyP3esgdYrbQaLH3z4YQWOaUW3kbDoE5LKba5XFKoWxhR-Gmx8

Garmin Reveals Interesting Data From 10,000 SOS Calls Upon logging their 10,000th SOS call through inReach devices, the team at Garmin just published a mound of interesting Garmin SOS data...

There is a great new book available! "Intelligent Search" by Christopher Young provides clear direction on how to find, collect and utilize information in a missing person incident. A first of its kind book. Get it.
https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/shopping/shopping.aspx?site=nasar&webcode=shopping&prd_key=9b49dc2c-7eea-4511-a31d-567da138f723

We had a great class in White County GA this week. LE, Fire, CERT, and EMA folks were all there. This is how effective groups train. They all found Andy the first night and saved him!