Camo vs. SAR

[resqman 108]

I have been on a SAR team for the past decade. We are a ground search team. We use both dog teams and Man Trackers. We also have 4 sets of military night vision goggles and two handheld thermal imaging units for primarily night work.

 

As mentioned in the previous post, urban, wilderness, and air search all differ. We deal in urban and wilderness search. Most victims are located within 1.5 miles of their PLS, Point Last Seen. Most are located near water, be it a puddle, creek, stream, river, lake, pond, drainage ditch, swamp, etc.

 

There is only one victim, but they leave lots of clues. We do not search for the victim, we search for the clues left by the victim. When people move they leave behind disturbances, scuff marks, bent and crushed vegetation, broken branches, overturned pebbles, indentations in soft ground, etc. Not to mention the items they drop or leave behind like food wrappers, smoking materials, clothing, gear, and items from their pockets.

 

From our point of view, the color of the clothing does not really make any difference other than it is a means of identifing the victim once located. If the dogs are tracking, they are following scent trails and/or ground disturbances. If the mantrackers are tracking, they are following ground and vegetation disturbances. We also implement periodic calls to the victim using their names or whistle blows and then listen for responses.

 

The thermal imaging depicts the scene in a black and white scale based on heat. Cool is black and white is Hot. Greys are varying shades between the two extremes. If scanning the area with the thermal imager, we are looking for human shapes. The same is true with the night vision, we are looking for human shapes, not colors. Seaching in the fall and winter are easier since there are less leaves and we can use the devices at longer distances. Spring and summer makes these devices less effective.

 

We find that most victims slow or stop travel at night. With the night vision, thermal imaging, and hand held lights, we can usually catch up to the victim. During the day, the victims often continue to move so we may have to chase them for a while.

 

Our uniforms are grey and black because we also do other rescue work besides SAR. We carry two way radios and are never out of sight of fellow team members.

 

I find that when on campouts with the scouts, those that wear bright colors are easier to find around the edges of the camp than those that wear natural colors in the green, tan, brown, black range.

 

Implement the buddy system. Discuss and teach the Hug-A-Tree program. Teach Wilderness Survival, Emergency Prepardedness, and First Aid merit badges to the troop often. Invite the local SAR team to make a presentation to the troop. Encourage all scouts to carry a whistle on them when on outings. Stress the whistle is for emergencies and not to blow for fun.

 

I would much rather search for a victim wearing all camo but that stays still once they have identified to themselves they are lost vs. a victim wearing blaze orange that keeps moving.