Why Tracking For SAR?
There are a multitude of reasons why tracking is an essential tool for Search and Rescue, all of which boil down to one critical factor - tracking saves time and therefore saves lives.
Trackers can quickly and effectively establish direction of travel. Why search 360 degrees from the PLS/LKP when you can narrow the search arc to a 30 degree wedge (see yellow section in image below)? Knowing the precise direction of travel allows controllers to be more efficient in deciding where to deploy resources, thereby saving not only time, but also energy expended.
What would be a 12 hour search could be achieved in 1 hour, or a 1 hour search in just 5 minutes!
Trackers can quickly "eliminate" or downgrade POA by establishing that the misper has NOT passed that way, even without having established direction of travel initially. "Every contact leaves a trace" Dr Edmund Locard. To a tracker's eye it will be obvious whether a person has entered an area or not. Be that an area of thick vegetation or a gateway to a field, if no trace is found, no human has passed that threshold.
Tracking teams can work at speed, leapfrogging ahead of each other to find conclusive sign in probable areas (track traps, bottlenecks etc). Step by step tracking is rarely used in real-world search scenarios, other than to re-establish direction of travel if the trackline is temporarily lost. In reality tracking teams will be reading the geography of the area and sending trackers ahead to connect with the trackline further along the route. Once conclusive sign has been found that location, another tracker will move ahead at speed again to pick up the trackline at the next likely area for sign to be found. In this way an area can be searched much more quickly and efficiently, without having to "bash out" large areas where the misper may well not have strayed.
Trackers can establish the speed and changes to the physical/mental/emotional condition of the misper by reading gait patterns and footmarks. This information can be fed back to incident managers/controllers to help identify when extra resources may be needed or when there is an increase in urgency.
Progression through all 3 levels of our courses SAR - Track and Sign Awareness, SAR - Signcutter and SAR - Tracker, will equip team members with the skills required to reach this standard of tracking for Search and Rescue.
Contact us to arrange training for your team.