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| Contents of Basic Skills page: |
Basic Skills
A brief introduction to some skills that an effective ground searcher should know, or be aware of. Some of these are part of the basic required skill set for FSAR members, others are optional and highly recommended.
But first, a bit of humour to liven your day. When signalling for help, it is recommended that you use standard signals, although anything can be effective!
click to enlarge
by Laura Morrison 
Searchers cannot be effective if they don't know where they were, where they are, and where they are trying to go. "Without your brain, a map is a piece of coloured paper, a compass is a glorified magnet, and a GPS is a waterproof battery case."Navigation I — Basic Navigator In a SAR operation a basic navigator must be able to accurately lead his/her team through a landscape with any terrain and vegetation cover, and with variable weather and lighting conditions. Every member of a team in a SAR operation should be, at a minimum, competent at the basic navigator level. Navigation I course outline — 15 hours
Navigation II is recommended for all FSAR team leaders, FSAR search managers, and any member who wishes to gain additional skills. The program consists of six modules designed to improve basic wilderness navigation proficiency, and provide additional tools to help navigators deal with complex navigation scenarios. The modules do not have to be taken in order.
by Kevin Bruce Mantracking is a retraining of the eyes to look for clues invisible to the untrained eye, to aid in finding the lost subject. For basic search and rescue, every searcher should at least know what a track is, and how not to destroy it. "In searching, more people is seldom better. Sheer numbers do not guarantee success. Neither do millions of dollars or sophisticated equipment. Even the smallest group of well-trained searchers, under the direction of a skilful search commander, is far superior to a large Basic Tracking Terms Track Impression left from the passage of a creature that can be positively identified. Tracking Following someone or something by stringing together a continuous chain of their sign. Sign Any evidence of change from the natural state that is inflicted on an environment by a creature's passage. Sign cutting Looking for sign in order to establish a starting point. Point man One member of the three person tracking team described graphically as the top point of the triangle formation. This person is responsible for print identification, determining the prime sign area, and tracking stick location of the "next" print focus in the step-by-step process. Flank men The two members, one to the right and one to the left, just behind a point person that make up a three person tracking team. Conclusively Human sign that on its own can be positively be said to have caused by a person and not an animal. Corroborant a sign that is disturbance but not decisively human and could have been caused by an animal.
Footprints to other web sites:
Book tracks: by Gary Renshaw Standard first aid courses have the unstated assumption that professional help is no more than an hour away. While this is generally true in cities and perhaps in campgrounds, it is not true in the wilderness. Darkness, bad weather and terrain can all conspire to make evacuation times anywhere from several hours to several days. The minimum skill requirement for our members is Standard Level First Aid (St. John Ambulance, Red Cross, or equivalent) but for the above reasons most Foothills SAR members eventually take Wilderness or Advanced Wilderness First Aid. These generally include two subjects not found in other courses: scene management and long-term care. Scene management is the skill of quickly determining how many casualties there are and what resources they need (triage). The scene manager then tries to allocate the available resources in the most effective manner possible. Scene management is scalable from single casualty to incidents involving hundreds of casualties spread over multiple sub-scenes. Long-term care refers to the skills necessary to support and comfort a casualty when professional medical care is many hours or days away. It includes assisting with all normal bodily functions: eating, drinking, sleeping and elimination. Since you may need to bring the subject to a trailhead to meet professional help, it also includes transportation, such as making a stretcher from available materials. Fortunately for all concerned, we rarely need these skills. FSAR recommends that everybody take a first aid course of some kind. Even the most minimal course will teach you the basic principles of what to do and what not to do in an emergency and as such will help you to deal with medical conditions you may encounter. And the persons most likely to need your help are not strangers, but family or friends (or even yourself!). The amount of training you pursue will depend on how much time, money and interest you have. This section is currently under construction. Please check back soon for updates! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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last updated 4 July 2006 - http://foothills-sar.ab.ca - webmaster@foothills-sar.ab.ca