The value of training in what we call SAR Specific Skills has been proven in two recent searches in Canterbury.

The first search was for a young man who failed to return to his flat after setting out for an afternoon walk on the Port Hills. He was known to be a keen rock climber so after locating his car the plan was to thoroughly search the most likely areas where there were cliffs. The assumption that he was injured following a fall and the length of time since he left home indicated considerable urgency was necessary. The search plan gave each team a segment to "eliminate" as we wanted to avoid any possibility of having to go over the same ground twice. Progress when seen from the control end appeared dismally slow but the care the teams took to ensure the proverbial stone wasn't left unturned paid off with the discovery of the missing person who sadly had taken his own life.

Comment at the debrief - "two years ago you would have searched that area in about a half the time, you would probably have missed the victim and we'd still be looking." The teams involved had spent a lot of time practicing close searching techniques, marking boundaries and turning around without missing any ground.

Then a woman disappeared after a domestic dispute. All evidence pointed to a drug overdose and when the car was located Police with dogs searched the immediate area without success. The volunteers received a call the next morning (rather late as it should have come the previous evening!) and using the sea as one boundary and a residential area as another, we split into two groups of twenty to comb the area on either side of the parking lot where her car was found. Again, the care taken to search paid off and an unconscious, but still alive, woman was soon in an ambulance and on the road to recovery (no pun intended). She was found within 100m of a well used walking track but completely hidden from passers by.

I am always on the lookout for more photos. These need to be sharp, be of a reasonable composition and tell a story . I would appreciate a loan of the negatives of any such photos.

A 46 year old Waipawa man, very fit, into cycling, marathon running and some tramping experience had gone off on a four day solo trip in the Ruahine Ranges. The details of his planned route which he had left at home, revealed the proposed trip was, in the time allowed, ambitious. When he had not emerged by the late afternoon of the fifth day, SAR personnel were advised and a search was commenced early on the sixth day.

An analysis of the weather at the time suggested the missing person would have in all probability experienced bad weather on the first day of the trip. Heavy snow had fallen the day before and it was likely that high winds and snow would have been encountered late on the first day as he reached the open tops. Streams were up on the first day and continued to rise on the following days of the trip as rain mixed with snow melt.

The search which continued for four days, finally found the tramper’s body below one of a series of waterfalls in a steep difficult gully. Variable weather conditions were experienced during the search. Very heavy rain on the afternoon of the fourth day resulted in one team being forced to stay in the hills until lunch time on the fifth day.

The search highlighted a number of important issues, including the importance of appropriate air support, the advanced skills now being promoted by NZLSAR and attention to detail. The following points have been extracted from the Field Search Controllers report as they may be useful to other SAR personnel throughout the country:-

Initially the Iroquois helicopter was grounded in Auckland due to bad weather and a local rescue helicopter was used to undertake a hut check and to position teams deep in the search area. Two, two man teams were used to leap frog huts on the hut check. This allowed each team the time required to undertake a full TCA inspection of each hut and gave the helicopter time to undertake an aerial inspection of the planned route in two directions.

On arrival the Iroquois helicopter flew a total of 32.6 hours and used 7600 litres of fuel. The cost to the Air Force was $37,920 at $1,200 per hour. The Iroquois helicopter was essential to the success of the operation. With a search area of 150 square kilometres, terrain that required winching on 30% of the taskings, long hours of operation and back up of an on board medic, it was considered that these requirements were beyond the safe operating capabilities of a local helicopter.

The search was notable for an almost total lack of clues. This could be attributed to the time of notification of the search which effectively put the teams five days behind the time when the tramper entered the field and weather conditions where the tramper would probably have been moving in reasonably deep soft snow which had subsequently melted and destroyed sign. This dearth of information continued throughout the search and was a factor that prevented the search being concentrated in any particular area.

The factors that influenced the final outcome can be seen in two parts:-

• Continuing investigative and interviewing skills of base staff and
• Tenacious TCA skills by the search team that found the critical clue late on the first day of the search.

Discussions with the family early in the search indicated that the missing person was wearing a pair of near new Nike Boots. The manufacturers when contacted were most cooperative and faxed a copy of the sole to the Field HQ. This was copied on the fax and distributed to each of teams in the field. Subsequent discussions with the family established that while the boots were near new they had been purchased some three years previously. Another call was made to Nike, who faxed a hand drawn representation of the older boot sole pattern which was totally different to the first.

These were again copied and sent out to the teams. The distinctive heel pattern that had similarities with a dogs paw was a common factor that assisted teams. With this information it was still possible to follow a trail of the missing person despite the fact that the sign was over a week old and had been subjected to bad weather conditions.

The other factor, was as mentioned, the TCA skill of the search team and the refusal of the team leader to give up on the possible importance of a meagre clue. Late on the first day a single set of scrape marks were found on a clay pan off the side of the tops. Considering snow would have covered the area at the time, there was uncertainty as to its validity. In hindsight it was probably the only clue available that would have indicated the location of the missing person and in fact it lead the teams to his location.

Unfortunately due to weather and other operational reasons it was not until the third day of the search that a concerted effort could be made in the area of the initial sign. Once down off the tops the line of supposed travel moved into leatherwood and some top sign was found. Leatherwood, both with the bark scrapped off a low branch and another actually broken were compared to a recent break to gauge the age of the break. One example was brought back by helicopter for inspection by FSHQ staff.

The sign brought the Team down from the tops, through the leatherwood, then to a steep sided creek with slips, pools and a series of waterfalls. The sign was infrequent and the team admitted they had great difficulty convincing themselves they were on the correct trail. Maintaining concentration for such a long time (ie. the better part of 2 days) was also difficult but dogged determination paid off in the long run.

Continuing down the creek there was a period of complete confusion when the team came across an area that looked like a herd of elephants had passed through. After discussion with base it was identified that another team had dropped into the creek two days earlier, had not spotted the missing person’s sign and had checked up and down the creek for some distance before climbing out again. The limits of this visit were established and fortunately the foot sign was re-established beyond the trampling.

At this point with such a strong lead from the team and no real clues coming in from another team coming up the creek from the bottom, the helicopter was tasked to fly the creek and check out a series of big waterfalls between the two teams. With the helicopter full of spotters, a vague red mark was seen by a spotter sitting in the back side seat of the helicopter. After overflying the area several times further investigation showed the red patch to be the inner liner of the missing persons open pack. His body was along side but because of his dark clothing was not visible from the air.

If nothing else this operation has proved the value of Track and Clue Awareness training. Everyone in the teams, even if they have not received full training is now much more aware of the need to be alert for clues. It was track & clue awareness that resulted in the success of the search.

Concern has been expressed about the trend for people not to fill in hut log books, this situation having been brought about by DoC’s requirement to pay hut fees. This factor is prolonging SAR operations and becoming an additional expense that is difficult to quantify. In this case the missing person didn’t reach a hut on his planned route, but because it was not known whether or not he would fill in the logbooks, extra resources were required to continue the search in areas that would have been given a lower priority in the past. If this had not been a factor the search may have been shortened by up to 25 percent.

As an illustration as to how good and honest people can be mistaken, two reliable reports were received from people in his town that indicated the missing man had been seen on the day he was due out. One was from his work mates who had seen him riding his bike and the other was from a very reliable person who knew him and had spoken to him on that day. Both reports obviously proved to be quite mistaken.

John Lovatt Police SAR Coordinator Hawkes Bay District

Graham Thorp Adviser Hawkes Bay District

The "Radio Communications In The Great Outdoors" pamphlet has now been printed in a cost sharing exercise with NZ Mountain Safety. Written by the Communications Subcommittee, it attempts to answer the perennial question of what communication device should I take into the hills. Copies for individuals or to hand out to the public are obtainable from the NZLSAR national office or your local MSC branch.

On the 20 September a function was held in Nelson to celebrate the work of two of the District’s outstanding SAR participants namely Gordon Brett and Max Curtis and to make to them, a presentation of the NZLSAR Award. At the function this poem, written by the young nephew of one of them was read, and I feel is worth sharing. It is all the more significant with the passing away of Max shortly before Christmas.

Key Tasks:-

• Chairing the CSC meetings.
• Prepare for the NZLSAR Committee approval, an annual budget for the running of the CSC.
• Prepare for the NZLSAR Committee approval, an annual budget for the purchase of the national SAR communications equipment requirements.
• Informing the NZLSAR Committee of technical advances that have an application for SAR.
• Focusing the CSC to achieve the goals set by the NZLSAR Committee.
• Attending NZLSAR Committee meetings.

Personal Specification:-

• Had current active experience in SAR during the previous five years at a level of or equivalent to the level of SAR Adviser or Field Controller (Constitutional requirement Rule 4e).
• Strong Chairmanship skills
• Communication systems knowledge desirable but not essential