NFO news
Over the last couple of months I have attended four Police District SAREX’s. All were different in concept, topography and climate
The first was the Gisborne SAREX held in the hills fifty or so kilometres north of the town in one branch of the headwaters of the Motu River. Steep farmland with clumps of macrocarpa trees indicating the site of a farm house of many years ago backed onto equally precipitous bush covered hills. The weekend was run on traditional lines with the scenario being two shooters failing to return from a hunting trip, and teams being deployed to find the missing persons. I was interested in the initial appraisal of the hunters situation by the person who was acting as Field Controller. Using the "Urgency Response Guide" supplied to him at an Advisers Standards Workshop he felt that action at that time was not required. For the purpose of the exercise he was told to get on with it and organise a search which he did very efficiently. I was deployed with two others to a team and I spent an interesting day searching the open farm land, dropping down through thick regenerating scrub to a delightful stream which we waded up for an hour or so. A steep climb up a huge slip, an hour or so traverse of a scrubby ridge and back down to the farmland for a return to the base for the evening. The missing parties were found on the Saturday afternoon which necessitated some quick reorganising so the exercise could continue on the Sunday.
The Christchurch/Canterbury Rural was the second exercise I attended. These two Districts, combined for SAR activities, have recently reviewed their whole management and organisational structure. Following a re-think of their Adviser needs, numbers have been reduced. All the SAR groups have been reformed in to four or five composite teams. This has not been without much discussion, soul searching and no small amount of ruffled feathers. The review was felt necessary because of the considerable changes in communications, transport, personnel, etc, that has occurred over the many years that some of their operating practices have been in place.
The SAREX was based at Loch Katrine which is joined via a narrow canal to Lake Sumner. The weekend was in three parts which ran from midday Friday to Sunday. The Friday scenario was that two canoeists had been dropped in the Hurunui River and had not arrived at their destination at the head of Loch Katrine. The control team was from the Ellesmere/Rakaia Group and quickly and ably deployed boats and ground parties. By nightfall one "body" had been found and the kayak of the second person discovered. It was good to see the Control Team using "Mattson Consensus" in determining the "Probability of Area" (POA). It was intended the exercise would continue to about midnight but the missing party had been found by 2030 hours. Incidentally he was in the segment with the highest POA. Saturday was again on traditional lines with a bush search for what turned out to be two lost groups. This was ably controlled by the Methven Group, although I think their "office administration" would have needed changes if the search had gone on any longer. During the day, the fine weather of Friday changed and fresh snow could been seen on the tops. Sunday was devoted to a couple of training modules and was for me, the most exciting part of the weekend. The modules were organised by the Pegusus Group. Participants were introduced to the theory, principals and practices of clue awareness when approaching a track junction, bridge or other potentially "clue rich area" and to the techniques for searching a hut and its surrounds. The other was the theory and practice of "Sound Sweeps". A kilometre and a half of hillside covered in beech forest intermingled with scratchy lawyer, somnolent but angry wasps and scrubby growth, was quickly searched and the four "lost persons" found. Spaced at 100 metres apart, the sound of the fifteen searchers whistles were enough to frighten every bell bird and tui not just in the immediate area, but for miles around.
The third SAREX I attended was with the Auckland District and held in the Woodhill Forest on the shores of the Kaipara Harbour. With extensive pine plantations on low rolling sand hills, vistas to the west of a sandy beach with lines of white breakers unimpeded in their flow since Australia and warm barmy temperatures, it was a different world to those experienced on the preceding exercises. Auckland SAR has for some time been reorganising their personnel from the large lists of names held by the outdoor clubs to a smaller group. This is called the FIRST Group (Fast Initial Response Search Team). For membership, a commitment is made to attend a required number of exercises and training sessions. The advantages are that the scarce training dollar is targeted at the persons going on operations, who with the higher level of training, are providing a better service. SAR membership in the Auckland District is now held in considerable esteem and I heard, in regard to assessing a potential new member, words like CV. and interview. As part of the exercise, members of the FIRST Group were to work over the weekend and provide leadership for the tramping club’s personnel. The Saturday morning began with lectures for the FIRST Group emphasising their responsibilities and role in the system. As well as providing the Team Leaders for the weekend they also have a training role, making safety assessments and assisting with recruitment by bringing to the notice of the Advisers any potential new members. Meantime the club members were given a lecture on basic first aid and the use of radios. After lunch teams were formed under the leadership of a FIRST Group member and all were deployed either to a series of first aid scenarios or a search area to look for a missing person. Sunday included the theory of "Sound Sweeps and then some time using this technique, strop work with the helicopter and a module on communications and message conveying to correct the problems of the day before.
While in Auckland I attended a function put on by the local SAR organisation for the presentation of the NZLSAR Award to Merv Passau and Jim Rowe. Attended by some thirty senior or retired Auckland SAR personnel, some with partners, drinks, nibbles and some nice speeches for a couple of guys who have contributed so much to helping those lost, lonely or injured in the outdoors.
A week later I attended the Nelson District SAREX at Dip Flat. Although similar to Auckland in that they were exploring new ideas and techniques, it was in an entirely different environment.
Beech forest, tussock slopes leading up to the alpine scree’s, boulder fields and rocky tops. Absolute magic. Friday night was a short briefing on the objectives for the weekend and so Operation Blackadder was under way. Teams Baldrick, Darling and Flashheart gave it all a touch of class and there were frequent comments on turnips, Queeny and rat fricassee. Saturday dawned, unlike in the winterless north (or so they told me while up there) with a very white frost covering the flats. It was a relief while holding up the radio aerial out in the middle of this chilly expanse when the sun finally arrived after slowly working its way down the hillside. The Nelson people had a series of training modules which were worked through over the weekend. These included an introduction to tracking, sound sweeps, first aid stretcher carrying up and down steep slopes using ropes for protection, the use of tracking dogs including a demonstration, and what gear and equipment should be carried by an individual searcher and the team. It was an intense two days learning of basic SAR skills for all the participants.For me as NFO these visits have been extremely helpful. Firstly I have been able to gain an appreciation of the standard of training, ability and attitude of the SAR participants. Secondly I have met some dedicated, capable people and when I write or speak to them on the phone we are both able to put "names to faces" in our contacts.
Police News
Some months ago as part of the restructuring of the Police Department, Region’s 5 and 6 were amalgamated. Realising the NZLSAR Region 5 Representatives would be unable to represent such a large area (the entire South Island except for the Nelson District) the Committee decided to continue with two people from the new Region 5 and retain their areas as the old boundaries had been. The Police restructuring process is ongoing and now a number of Districts have been amalgamated. This will in some instances, in regard to SAR, pose a few problems while in others it will be business as usual. The Districts brought together include:-
Dunedin and Otago now called the Otago District
This new District, stretching from Tairoa Head to the back of Fiordland presents a near impossible task for a single District Committee trying to overview "their patch". A number of smaller Committees will be needed and some liaison between them required.
Christchurch and Canterbury Rural now called the Canterbury District
The amalgamation of these two Districts which is to take place on the 1 July will bring about some small but significant changes. Arthur’s Pass is to be taken from the West Coast and included in the new District. Methven is taken from the existing boundaries and joins with the South Canterbury District. The practical implications of these changes are being explored.
Napier and Hastings now called the Hawks Bay District
As far as I can ascertain this amalgamation presents no changes for SAR
Frequency Charges Paid For By Police
The good news for SAR groups around the country wrestling with licensing fee requirements must be this excerpt taken from a letter dated 19 April 1996
......That the NZ Police are prepared to meet the costs of licensing SAR VHF repeater channels on an ALL NZ basis. This means any individual radio repeater operating on the channels has no licensing fee to pay.
The channels specified under this arrangement are CD12, MS8 and MS17. Emergency Services Bands will soon be requested and these will also be licensed under this arrangement.
Signed - Richard J Collins - NZ Police - Radio Telephony Analyst - Communications Section - Information and Technology Group
Committee News
Business Plan - After a lengthy gestation period and a difficult birth this document, setting out where the organisation is heading in the next five years has been presented to the Police. As our fund provider this will show the Department the needs of SAR in New Zealand and provides some budget figures to meet those needs. Anyone wanting a copy please contact either a Committee member or the NFO.
AGM and next meeting - A reminder that NZLSAR has its AGM and Committee meeting on Saturday 24 August 1996 starting at 0900 hours. The AGM meeting is open to the public so feel free to attend but please let me know before hand so sufficient lunch material can be provided. All AGM papers must be in my hand by 1630 Friday 19 July.
Regional Round up
Don Major the Region Two Chairman has written indicating his intention to resign at the June meeting. Don has contributed twenty six years to land search and rescue, the last nine as an Adviser for the Hamilton District. His intention is to transfer to Tairua, a small settlement on the Coromandel and retire there. It sounds pretty good to me Don, and I would like to thank you for all the work you have done over the years and wish you all the very best for your retirement.
Training Sub Committee News
Advisers Standards Workshop - In the February News Letter, mention was made of an Advisers Standards Workshop for all Region Three and Four Advisers to be held at the Police College on the weekend 21/22/23 June this year. We have just about got our "database" up and running and one of the first things I asked of it was which Advisers in these two Districts haven’t been to a Workshop. In totalling them up the answer, as always, was forty two and as this is too many for one Workshop, the decision had to be made to hold two. The Workshop for the Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North Advisers will run as arranged. Another Workshop for Wanganui and Taranaki will be held on the weekend 7/8 September. Derick Mathews and Noel Watson are exploring suitable venues and details will be announced as they come to hand. For those Advisers in Wanganui and Taranaki who haven’t been to one of these Workshops please pencil the event into your diary now.
Stop press Stop press Stop press
Just to hand, well from Noel’s hand actually. He has made a booking for the Workshop at the TOPEC training complex which is situated some three kilometres south of New Plymouth and is arranging for the Taranaki SAR catering corps to prepare meals Thanks Noel.
Also for the Advisers in the Coromandel area who have not yet attended a Workshop. Can these people who live in the region please pencil in the weekend 27/28 July. I understand John Cassidy Region Two Regional Representative has much of the planning such as invites, venue etc in hand. I will be mailing out the pre course material soon.
Emergency Management Limited (EML) Courses - Late last year the Committee agreed to the Training Sub Committee’s advice to sponsor EML Track and Clue Awareness (TCA) and Managing Search Operations (MSO) Courses. This was after Roscoe Tait had attended a MSO course as an observer and reported that a quantum leap in SAR efficiency and effectiveness could be gained by those attending such a course. NZLSAR is not able to fully fund these courses However the Committee was prepared to cover the instructor costs so asked the Regional Representatives of those Districts who were prepared with part payment on their part, to run them. Regions 3 and 4 requested one each and Region 5 South said they would run two. In fact they are intending to provide extra funds and stretch the money to hold three courses. Here are some of the reports received from the coordinators so far:-
Region 4
A TCA course was held for the Nelson District personnel and 16 people attended from Murchison, Takaka, Motueka, Blenheim, Nelson and Kaikoura. The Course was financed by NZLSAR, with individual SAR groups contributing to the accommodation and food costs on a per head basis. The Course held was the Track and Clue Awareness and was for two levels of participants. The Introductory Course members objective for the weekend were "to be introduced to track and clue awareness skills and principles and put them into a search and rescue perspective". The Intermediate Course objectives were "to review, refine and develop existing track and clue awareness skills for use in SAR". Because of the concentration and intense tutoring required in the teaching of these skills the recommendation at the end of the weekend was for the course to be either Introductory or Intermediate. Tracking sticks, mirrors, tape measures and torches with a dull light were the tools of the trade. Words such as transfer, contrast, texture, shape, ageing and bracketing became commonly used. The feed back has been very good and even the sceptics have started to come on side.
Russell Tucker Adviser Nelson District
Region 5 South
A new twist to an old tail or tale" or perhaps "Focus on the obvious" could be the heading for EML tutor Ross Gordon’s recent Track and Clue Awareness course. Held at Kingston situated at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu, the course was attended by sixteen SAR personnel from Queenstown and Te Anau. It focused in on fine detail so often overlooked in real operations by all levels of searchers from Team Members to Advisers to Controllers. Perhaps we can all remember operations where in the heat and pressure of a search to get a quick result we have moved clumsily over important clues
The focus has been on the missing party and has neglected the multitude of clues they will have left. The observation and learned interpretation of these clues would have in many instances saved costs, reduced time in dangerous situations for personnel, saved lives and reduced anxiety for next of kin.
When assembled on Friday night at Kingston we were a cosmopolitan lot from all different professions. Many had years of volunteer contributions to search at levels from Adviser to Team member. Many had been involved in technically difficult searches from a missing child at Kingston itself to missing passengers from a crashed aircraft.
Over the two days and two nights of exercises I heard not a negative comment. There were only positive remarks and enthusiasm such as "we should have used this, in this or that operation" or "we should have had a person dealing with clues and information that could have cut this or that search by half". When told on the Friday night that the skills to be taught would enable them to find a mintie in the thick forest on the mountain side of Kingston, they almost all laughed. However on the Sunday afternoon they were doing just that, no minties were left for the possums!! Everyone surprised themselves with the newly awakend skills.
Everyone has these skills but they have been dulled and the edge rubbed off them by lack of use of conscious effort to recognise the small but none the less important "tracks and clues" that everyone leaves behind when passing through an area.
I watched Ross putting in a track up the hard gravel road leading to Ben Nevis Station and said to him "if you expect the group back at Kingston to find any of these, you are joking mate’!! There were eight different tracks put in, and teams of two assigned to each. With the white tracking sticks, rules and notes I watched amazed as each picked up their trail and progressed. All sped up as the sun appeared from behind the cloud and gave a cross light which aided in defining detail. A cocky drove by wondering if it was a sheltered workshop for the blind. From the sparse and minute detail laid on this hard surface, teams were able to detail and sketch, boot type, tread depth, (worn or new) speed of travel, age of sign, attitude, direction, weight and if carrying a load.
Night exercises were extending in concentration and use of light but gave focus on clues with continuity and progress ahead being important. When confusion prevailed this often heralded a change of direction by the lost party.
This TCA course, of getting back to basics, can only be praised and we have 16 graduates who got a lot out of the weekend.
We intend having a clue awareness person at Search HQ to collect and interpret information from the field in our next SAREX in the Remarkables in June. I see importance of having someone who’s sole task is to collect and coordinate clue details. This information will be requested and gathered from the field activities, next of kin etc. This in the future should be tagged into a computer and made available quickly to review and use for SAR assistance.
Brian Ahern Adviser Otago District
Cellphones in SAR situations
The Police and a number of Advisers have received cellphone calls from distressed parties in the outdoors. Noel Watson, the Taranaki SAR Co-Ordinator, has had some considerable experience in taking these calls emanating from within their District especially from the slopes of Mt Egmont/Taranaki. If you take one of these calls you may be under intense pressure to sort out a situation that could have tragic consequences if you don’t get it right. You may be dealing with panicking people, trying to sort out their whereabouts, it may be close to dark and they have no torches and all the while the cellphone batteries are running down. It seems to me a good idea that Advisers have a flow chart or checklist of information required from, and instructions for, the distressed party. Here are a few of the key points that Noel’s experience has revealed:-
Remember that if their battery goes flat there will be no more communications, you will not be able to ask questions or give instructions. Batteries in the intense cold that is experienced high up a mountain have a limited life, so make each second of each call count. Be prepared.
Noel Watson Police SAR Co Ordinator Taranaki District
Mountain Safety Council Revised and New Publications
Mountain Safety have recently re-issued their publication of the Bushcraft manual. This is the third edition of this manual and it would appear that the major changes are in the river crossing techniques. As rivers can be one of our most daunting challenges when in the outdoors the manual is a must for all those venturing beyond "the back fence".
MSC have also published a small pamphlet detailing the location, phone numbers etc for obtaining a Mountain Radio. Real handy if you are looking to hire one of these and are not sure where to go.
MSC has many other excellent publications, training videos and such handy items as pack liners. Order forms are available from your local MSC Branch Secretary or MSC Head Office, PO Box 6027 Te Aro Wellington or NZLSAR PO Box 12081 Wellington
International SAR Conferences
There are many experienced SAR volunteers in New Zealand who are gradually adopting and adapting overseas research and ideas. Sound sweep and track and clue awareness are two examples. The vision statement of NZLSAR to use modern search management techniques is another. These are examples I will be presenting at the two day William Syrotuck SAR Research Symposium in Denver, USA.
The National Association of Search and Rescue (USA) conference will follow for three days. This will be a great chance to get ideas for New Zealand and meet up with international search researchers and practitioners.
The trip highlight is going to be a four day retreat in Seattle with various international SAR researchers who are gathering to discuss future directions. I am taking some New Zealand products including technology, gear and research developments.
I am going in a private capacity but regardless look forward to bringing back ideas that New Zealand Land SAR can use. Sharing knowledge nationally and internationally has to make SAR stronger.
Ross Gordon Managing Director Emergency Management Limited
Editors Comments
To Russell, Brian, Noel, Ross for your articles and the others who proof read or commented on the items above, thanks very much for your assistance. To those who sent articles which I haven’t used I apologise and promise to do so in the next Newsletter. There is so much going on we will just have to pace ourselves. Copy for the August edition will close on Friday 19 July. Articles on gear, search techniques or SAR in general are most welcome