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SAR Book Review

Fundamentals of Search and Rescue

Reviewed by Joseph Labelle

If you are tired of looking for basic searcher training materials from too many different sources, the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) offers an attractive alternative.

Fundamentals of Search and Rescue (FunSAR) is a basic training manual from NASAR, published by Jones and Bartlett. Edited by Don Cooper, a name most SAR leaders will recognize for his 20-plus years of fostering improvements in ground SAR. FunSAR is a 341-page colour, glossy training package covering the information, knowledge and skills required to get new searchers up and running as effective, self-reliant field personnel.

FunSAR builds on the introduction to ground SAR presented in NASAR’s introduction to seach and rescue, and is a primer for advanced search and rescue and managing the lost person incident. Each step in the training cycle builds on the concepts introduced in the previous level. FunSAR provides the meat-and-potatoes, the core field searcher competencies, for general ground SAR operations.

The publication is divided into three major sections. It provides a SAR overview, including SAR systems, incident management and the organization, and legal and ethical aspects of SAR. The second section presents support information, required skills and necessary equipment. The final section addresses SAR operations, including search theory, search operations and rescue.

The required skills and knowledge section has extensive material on physiology and fitness, survival and improvisation, SAR clothing, safety in SAR environments, ready pack and personal equipment, navigation, SAR technology, travel skills and tracking. While each topic is presented at an entry level, the treatment is sufficient for most field team member operational situations and provides a solid foundation for future specialized training.

A few of the introductory sections on search and rescue systems are aimed primarily at an American audience, but Canadian material for SAR systems in this country are readily available and can be easily inserted in your program.

In addition to the tried-and-true SAR skills every searcher requires, the book provides one of the most accessible discussions of recent advances in search theory, including a presentation on area effectively swept, coverage, effective sweep width, and the detection function. FunSAR is one of the first publications to delivery these important search concepts within a general training package.

Fundamentals of Search and Rescue is an ASTM F2209 compliant program that is also the training framework for preparation for NASAR’s SARTech II certification. Jones and Barlett also publish an Instructors Tool Kit on CD, with lesson plans, instructor notes, PowerPoint presentations, clip art and an exam question bank, providing an almost turn-key training package.

NASAR’s Fundamentals of Search and Rescue is the culmination of over 20 years of training and certification material development for ground SAR practitioners and provides a comprehensive, professional, and accessible training program for SAR teams seeking to raise their responders to modern professional standards. FunSAR is also an excellent reference publication for those seeking a comprehensive and well organized overview of modern ground SAR operations.

Fundamentals of Search and Rescue, Donald C. Cooper (ed.), NASAR and Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury MA, 2005. 341 pages including appendixes, glossary and index.

Joseph LaBelle is a member of the Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue team in Moncton, New Brunswick.

E-mail: jlabelle@nbnet.nb.ca