Much has been done on managing Search & Rescue operations. There are numerous volumes explaining search techniques, sign-cutting, first aid, rock climbing, and other topics. With all this, there's very little on the intricacies of being a member of a Search & Rescue team.
What we are talking about here is experience. Reading books can't replace time in the field, but books can help us to acquire basic skills. On that thought, why couldn't there be some way of giving new volunteers a head start on becoming experienced Team Members?
That is the goal and the purpose of this book. To help both new and used Search & Rescue volunteers to function more as members of a team, to provide a head start on experience. To be even more precise, this book is intended to help you become a more effective Team Member by examining various aspects of Search & Rescue work from a volunteer's perspective.
This book is a collection of opinions and observations on various aspects of Search & Rescue. It is based on my experience in Search & Rescue beginning in April of 1983, and on considerably more time as a backpacker and occasional mountaineer. Additionally, it's based upon conversations with close friends whose Search & Rescue experience is equal to or greater than my own. Much of what's in here amounts to my personal Search & Rescue philosophy. Other things are in the way of do's, don'ts, and suggestions.
I'm not going to teach you to tie knots, pick handholds,or argue whose rope bounces best. Specific detail on hardware or tactics has been well covered by all sorts of people. I'll leave such topics to higher authority.
What I have tried to do is illustrate the goals a Team Member should aspire to, along with some of the difficulties encountered along the way. Your job is to find your own perspectives and rules to live by. Don't just read the words, think about their application. The concepts I will relate are those which work for me and my friends. Consider what your position might be on the various topics.
The goal is to get you thinking about the finer details of Search & Rescue from the human interaction point of view. How do we all work together? What are the difficulties involved? What are the more common stumbling blocks encountered? What do you need to be thinking about before, on the way to, during, and after a Search & Rescue operation? Why do some operations go smoothly, and others not so smoothly?
These are the kinds of questions explored within. The answers are, again, my opinions. Think about what is said, and why. Find your own answers, or improve upon mine if you like. If all this book does is start you thinking a little more deeply, then it will have succeeded.
On to CHAPTER ONE...
 |
Designed by a member of  |
 |
| Maintenance Data:
tm_forword.html Date Last Revised: November 15, 1998 |
