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Ground SAR group uses ATVs

by Carl Weisbrot

In the small town of Palgrave, south of Orillia, the buzz of four-wheel All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) is a familiar sound. However, instead of joy riders whipping through the underbrush, these ATVs are being used by local volunteers to search for missing people.

They are part of the volunteer search and rescue group called the Ontario ATV Search and Rescue Federation (O-ATV-SARF). The group was formed in late 2004 by John Penny after an autistic man went missing from the Oakville Detention Centre where he was receiving medical care.

"I received a phone call from a family member, Randy Mogridge's brother, Dean, who had heard of the Hills Riders ATV club through the radio and asked us if we could help in the search for his brother," said Penny.

The search for Randy Mogridge, who was severely autistic and estimated to have the mind of a young child, spanned almost two weeks and resulted in the discovery of his body in 16 Mile Creek, not far from where he went missing.

As a result, Penny decided an ATV volunteer ground search and rescue group was needed in Ontario and formed the OATVSARF with members from local ATV associations. Currently, there are 45 members, including several paramedics, a certified forest arborist, a police detective, a medical doctor and an EMS first aid and CPR instructor.

"After creating the group, the next step is to secure funding and to properly train everyone. After all, what's the point if we can't actually conduct a comprehensive search mission?" said Penny.

The group has already secured an association agreement with the Ontario Federation of ATV Clubs and the Canadian Council for All Terrain Vehicles. Currently, the group is seeking OPP recognition.

"The OPP currently have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association (OSARVA). Discussions are currently under way to support OATVSARF joining OSARVA," said Sergeant Don Webster, the OPP's Provincial SAR Co-ordinator.

All current members are very experienced with ATV's, averaging over 10 years on the machines.

"Prospective members need to pass a police background check and we require that they have updated first aid and CPR certification, though, we do provide training in-house to make sure we're up to date," said Penny, "Right now, there are 12 members who are trained on the defibrillator that we take with us on missions."

Although the group is based out of Caledon, they intend to provide coverage for all of Ontario.

Currently the group has participated in three different missing persons cases, encompassing 14 separate search missions. There are plans to have a canine unit up and running by the end of July.

Fatigue's effects on the SAR team member

by Carl Weisbrot

Because search and rescue incidents often interrupt real life - work, holidays, sleep - search and rescue team members must be ready to respond at a moment's notice. However, since searches can be time-consuming - in some cases taking more than a week - team members must be able to operate effectively in prolonged missions.

That means a very important part of a rescue management plan is a properly designed sleep schedule.

The human body operates on a schedule or a rhythm of sleeping and waking periods. The body likes to keep that schedule the same, if possible. Generally, the average person needs seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep to recharge the cognitive and physiological faculties.

However, search and rescue members do not have that luxury, and must operate for extended periods of time with little or no sleep. The body does have a limit, and will eventually shut down without proper sleep.

According to a report by Dr. Carlos Comperatore, member of the Crew Endurance Team at the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center, a two-hour nap of high quality sleep is required to maintain alertness levels. High quality sleep means sleep in a dark, quiet environment with no interruptions. Any other kind of sleep only worsens the subject's mental and physical abilities.

Recently, the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), as part of a research and development project, partnered with B.C. Research Inc. to determine the effects of ship motion combined with sleep fatigue on crew performance.

"The question is, if a SAR vessel is out searching for long hours - or days - in high seas, how are the searchers affected by motion and fatigue?" says Laurel Ritmiller of B.C. Research.
The study was conducted at Memorial University's Marine Institute in St. John's, Newfoundland, using a high-fidelity full-motion bridge simulator at the Institute's Centre for Marine Simulation.

Combining sea trials and simulators, the CCG officers and crew were deprived of sleep for 24 hours and then had to stand watch to simulate fatigue. Participants wore a headset with a sensor next to the eye to measure blink rate, which changes with fatigue. Body movement and sleep were also measured using a wrist-mounted activity monitor and computer tests measured reaction times, spatial processing, logical reasoning, mental arithmetic ability, pattern recognition and memory. In addition, participants answered questions about motion sickness symptoms and workload assessments.

One of the most important aspects of the tests was target recognition and detection. To determine if the subjects' visual recognition was impaired, they were asked to look through a window and indicate when they first sighted the targets.

Carl Weisbrot was a co-op student with the National Search and Rescue Secretariat during the spring of 2005.

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