# Session No. 14

### Course Title: Disaster Response Operations and Management

### 

### Session Title: Search and Rescue

## Time: 50 minutes

**Objectives:**

14.1 Identify the need for and types of search and rescue operations.

14.2 Discuss how people behave when search and rescue is taking place.

14.3 Draw out the important issues that must be considered when
implementing search and rescue operations.

14.4 Provide background information about professional SAR teams and
discuss their relative merit as compared to volunteer/emergent SAR
teams.

14.5 Describe the process of search and rescue operations as performed
by CERT members.

**Scope:**

In this session, the professor explains why search and rescue (SAR) is
needed and identifies the different types of SAR operations. Attention
is also given to people's behavior during search and rescue activities.
The session covers issues important to search and rescue operations and
provides a description of FEMA's Urban SAR teams. A discussion about the
merit of professional SAR teams vs. volunteer/emergent SAR groups
follows. The session concludes by exploring the process of SAR
undertaken by CERT teams.

**Session Requirements:**

1.  Instructor Reading:

> Accardi, Russell T. 1997. "Search Operations at Building Explosion and
> Collapse." *Firehouse* (October): 88-92.
>
> Aguirre, B.E. and Dennis Wenger, Thomas A. Glass, Marcelino
> Diaz-Murillo, Gabriela Vigo. 1995. "The Social Organization of Search
> and Rescue: Evidence from the Guadalajara Gasoline Explosion."
> *International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters* 13 (1):
> 67-92.
>
> Borden, Frank W. 1989. "Urban Search and Rescue: The Need for Command
> and Control." Applied Research Project Submitted to the National Fire
> Academy. July. Emmitsburg, MD.
>
> Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2003. "Chapter 5: Light Search
> and Rescue." In Community Emergency Response Teams Training Manual.
> [Http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cert/mtrls.asp](http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cert/mtrls.asp).
> Emergency Management Institute, Federal Emergency Management Agency:
> Emmitsburg, MD.
>
> Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2000. Urban Search & Rescue
> Response System Operations Manual. See
> <http://www.fema.gov/usr/usrdocs.shtm>.
>
> Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2001. Urban Search & Rescue Field
> Operations Guide. See <http://www.fema.gov/usr/usrdocs.shtm>.
>
> Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2000. Equipment Cache List. See
> <http://www.fema.gov/pdf/usr/tfcache2000.pdf>.
>
> Graham, Hatch and Judy. 1989. "CARDA Dogs are Search-and-Rescue
> Superstars." *American Fire Journal* (February): 28-31.
>
> Hammond, David J. 1989. "Urban Search and Rescue: An Engineer's View."
> *Response* (Winter): 18-20.
>
> McEntire, David A. 2006. "Caring for the Injured, Dead and
> Distraught." *Disaster Response and Recovery: Strategies and Tactics
> for Resilience*. New York: Wiley.
>
> National Advisory Council to the Congressional Fire Services Caucus
> Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. 1991. "Urban Search and Rescue in
> the United States." White Paper for The Honorable Elton Gallegly,
> California Chairman, Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, Congressional
> Fire Service Caucus and The Honorable Curl Weldon, Pennsylvania
> Chairman, Congressional Fires Services Caucus.
>
> Rigg, Nancy J. 1997. "Come Rain or Come Slide: Yosemite Search and
> Rescue." *911 Magazine* (May/June): 30-33.
>
> Scawthorn, Charles and Dennis Wenger. 1990. "Emergency Response,
> Planning and Search and Rescue." *HRRC Publication 11P*. Hazard
> Reduction and Recovery Center, College of Architecture, Texas A&M
> University: College Station, TX.
>
> Tholkes, Ben F. 1996. "Ethical Concerns in the Field of Wilderness
> Search and Rescue." *Journal of the National Association for Search
> and Rescue* (Winter): 3-5.
>
> United States Fire Administration. 1994. "Search and Rescue Operations
> Following the North Ridge Earthquake." *Technical Rescue Incident
> Report*. Federal Emergency Management Agency: Emmitsburg, MD.
>
> Vigo, Gabriela and Carla Prater, Pradip Pramanik, J. Ethan Beeson,
> Margaret Hall. 1993. "Search and Rescue & Emergency Medical Services:
> A Multidisciplinary Annotated Bibliography." Second Edition. Hazard
> Reduction and Recovery Center, College of Architecture, Texas A&M
> University: College Station, TX.
>
> Wenger, Dennis. 1989. "The Study of Volunteer and Emergent
> Organizational Response in Search and Rescue: Approaches and Issues
> for Future Research." *HRRC Publication 5P*. Hazard Reduction and
> Recovery Center, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University:
> College Station, TX.

1.  Student Readings:

> Aguirre, B.E. and Dennis Wenger, Thomas A. Glass, Marcelino
> Diaz-Murillo, Gabriela Vigo. 1995. "The Social Organization of Search
> and Rescue: Evidence from the Guadalajara Gasoline Explosion."
> *International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters* 13 (1):
> 67-92.
>
> McEntire, David A. 2006. "Caring for the Injured, Dead and
> Distraught." *Disaster Response and Recovery: Strategies and Tactics
> for Resilience*. New York: Wiley.

3\. Handouts:

> Types of Search and Rescue Operations
>
> Findings from the Research Literature
>
> Factors to Consider
>
> Comparison of Professional and Volunteer SAR Teams
>
> The Process of Search and Rescue

**Remarks:**

1\. The professor may want to start off the discussion by asking if any
of the students have participated in search and rescue operations.
Experienced emergency service personnel will provide interesting stories
and information that will be useful to their peers in the class.

2\. It will be necessary to reiterate that search and rescue operations
may be implemented by emergent groups that form after disaster or by
formal emergency response personnel.

3\. Safety concerns should be mentioned frequently throughout the
session so that the students will appreciate the dangers inherent in
search and rescue operations.

4\. This session gives the majority of attention to search and rescue in
urban settings. The professor might want to redirect the focus of the
session by spending extra time researching other types of SAR
operations.

5\. It is important to remember that search and rescue operations may
become search and recovery operations if there is credible information
that people have not survived the incident or disaster.

6\. Fire fighters from the local community may have experience with
search and rescue operations. If this is the case, it will be
advantageous to invite them to share their thoughts and experiences on
the matter. Other possible guest speakers may include law enforcement
officials or members of Community Emergency Response Teams, state forest
service Departments or FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue Teams.

**Objective 14.1 Identify the need for and types of search and rescue
operations.**

**Requirements:**

**Present the following information as a lecture.**

I. **Emergency managers and emergency service personnel often become
involved in search and rescue operations** in both emergency (routine)
and disaster (non-routine) situations.

> A. **Search and rescue operations are emergency activities undertaken
> to find disaster victims and remove them from danger or confinement so
> they may receive urgent treatment such as hydration, basic first aid,
> or advanced medical care**. This may include, but is not limited, to:
>
> 1\. **Looking for lost individuals.**
>
> 2\. **Determining the whereabouts of disaster victims.**
>
> 3\. **Developing and implementing strategies to safely rescue, extract
> or set free the person in question.**
>
> 4\. **Providing immediate and basic care until further medical
> assistance is provided.**
>
> 5\. **Transporting the individual away from the dangerous area to
> their home or medical facility for further treatment.**
>
> B. **Examples** of incidents **requiring search and rescue
> operations** are:
>
> 1\. **Children may become lost** in a forest area or **may be
> abducted** by strangers
>
> 2\. **People** traveling in a car may get **trapped by rising flood
> waters** (e.g. the car stalls in a low water crossing).
>
> 3\. A **small plane is presumed to have crashed in an isolated area**
> along its projected flight path.
>
> 4\. **Members of a rural fire department** may get **isolated by a
> forest fire which speeds up due to strong winds**.
>
> 5\. A **family** may need to be **extracted from a collapsed
> building** after an earthquake.

II\. The above examples give us an idea of the **different types of
search and rescue operations**.

> A. **Rural search and rescue**.
>
> 1\. This occurs when experienced personnel such as **forest department
> workers enter rugged areas to find missing children or lost
> campers/hikers**.
>
> B. **Swift water rescue**.
>
> 1\. **Fire fighters inflate rubber rafts** and **traverse swollen
> creeks** to **access people on top of cars, roofs or in trees** and
> bring them back to dry land.
>
> C. **Air patrolled search and rescue**.
>
> 1**. Civil air patrol** members or others from the FAA **cover large
> geographic areas looking for downed aircraft**.
>
> D. **Urban search and rescue**.
>
> 1\. **Neighbors work together to extract victims** from a **building**
> that has been **destroyed by a tornado**.
>
> 2\. **FEMA urban search and rescue teams are dispatched to a large
> city** that has been **affected by a major earthquake**.
>
> E. **Other**.
>
> 1\. **Ski patrol** or other skilled individuals **look for missing
> skiers** and work to quickly **free those trapped in an avalanche**.
>
> 2\. **Highway patrol** **locates automobiles and passengers stuck as a
> result of major winter storms.**
>
> 3\. **Emergency response personnel put on wetsuits and use ropes to
> rescue people trapped on thin ice or caught in dangerously cold
> waters**.

**Objective 14.2 Discuss how people behave when search and rescue is
taking place.**

**Requirements:**

**Present the following as a lecture**:

I. There is a great deal of **research** **about human behavior** in
search and rescue operations.

> A. **Wenger's review of the literature** provides a **comprehensive
> summary** of research **findings**. He states:
>
> 1\. "The initial search and rescue activity is **undertaken by victims
> and volunteers**.
>
> 2\. The magnitude of the **volunteer response is extensive**.
>
> 3\. Most **victims are rescued by volunteer and emergent
> organizational activity**.
>
> 4\. Formal, **professional search and rescue activity is subsequent
> and supplemental** to the initial volunteer actions.
>
> 5\. There is **considerable difficulty in integrating and coordinating
> volunteer and formal, organizational actions**.
>
> 6\. Search and rescue, even among formal, established organizations,
> **presents serious problems of coordination and management**" (1989,
> 2).

II\. One of the most **recent studies is by Aguirre et. al. (1995)**.
While examining human behavior after a **Gasoline Explosion in
Guadalajara, Mexico** on 22 April 1992, they illustrate many **common
patterns of activity**:

> A. **Untrained volunteers are the first people to engage in search and
> rescue**.
>
> 1\. **"During the first phase of the search and rescue activities most
> of the rescuers were the neighbors, associates, and relatives of the
> victims"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 78).
>
> 2\. **"Initially, the primary social formation that carried out search
> and rescue activities were the people residing in the neighborhoods
> impacted by the explosion. This pattern is similar to the immediate
> reactions of people impacted by disasters elsewhere in the world
> (Quarantelli 1988). Neighbor groups themselves by city block and
> cooperated with each other in searching and rescuing victims of the
> explosion. Neighbors, friends and relatives had privileged information
> about the customary activities, habits and probably whereabouts of
> known potential victims and of the layout of their residences. This
> knowledge was of paramount importance in the search and rescue
> process, and is an important advantage these emergent groups have over
> formal SAR organizations.**" (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 78).
>
> B. **Untrained rescuers will informally or formally assign tasks and
> create a division of labor during search and rescue**.
>
> 1\. **"The removal of debris necessitates both picking up of the
> pieces of debris and their transportation away from the area. These
> tasks require two types of workers acting in close coordination.
> Characteristically, there would be a small group of rescuers picking
> up the pieces. And surrounding them would be other rescuers, often
> ordered in lines, usually away from the center in each of the four
> cardinal directions. These people actually moved the piece of rubble,
> passing it hand to hand away from the dig. . . . Our impression,
> supported by analysis of videos of the SAR activities during the first
> two hours filmed by Mr. Manuel Gutierrez, is that a similar pattern
> occurred in Guadalajara, although we do not have the survey
> information to determine the division of labor by gender during the
> entire post-explosion phase**" (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 79).
>
> C. **These rescuers will use anything they can find to help them
> rescue trapped individuals**.
>
> 1\. "**During the initial phase of the response simple, hand held,
> small mechanical tools were most effective in helping people do their
> rescue work. . . . In Guadalajara, some of these simple tools were
> heavy gloves to protect the hands, ropes to wrap around searchers as
> they entered particularly dangerous places, lumber, wire cutters,
> small hydraulic jacks with wheels, buckets, metal bars, and heavy
> hoes**" (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 79-80).
>
> 2\. **Note: in other disasters, rescuers have used bare hands, shovels
> and ladders** (see Lechat 1980).
>
> D. **Rescuers will giver higher preference to rescuing some victims
> over others**, **which will impact survival rates.**
>
> 1\. **" . . . The evidence we have shows that the concerns of people
> engaged in search and rescue was first for their kin, second for their
> immediate neighbors and other nearby residents, and finally for
> residents of nearby blocks"** (Aguirre 1995, 81).
>
> 2\. **"People did not participate in the search and rescue efforts at
> random. Instead, their participation was a function of the strength of
> their preexisting social linkages and interdependencies with the
> victims and fellow rescuers"** (Aguirre 1995, 81).
>
> 3\. **"A lawyer is a life-long resident of the neighborhood. He hears
> the explosion and runs from this house, two city blocks away from the
> impacted area, to the house of his father-in-law, where his wife and
> children are visiting. Once he gets there he verifies that no one is
> severely hurt. However, he is informed by his wife that his nephew is
> missing. She tells him that the boy had left to buy candy at the
> corner store. The store, part of the landscape, is gone. Nevertheless,
> he remembers that there was a tree in front of the store, finds the
> remaining stump, and from its position reconstructs in his imagination
> the most likely place where his nephew is** buried. He begins to **dig
> through the rubble. . . . Eventually, they find the boy and rescue him
> alive"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 82).
>
> 4\. **"An engineer is a lifelong resident and a member of a large
> extended family unit in the neighborhood. He rushes to his home
> immediately after the explosion. His mother has escaped uninjured. One
> of his cousins tells him that yet a third cousin is unaccounted for
> and presumed buried in the rubble. He then joins the entire family in
> searching for the missing member. Eventually, after a couple of hours
> of searching for him they find the missing cousin helping neighbors in
> an adjacent block"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 83).
>
> 5\. **"An automobile mechanic is talking to two of his friends in the
> shop where he works. His twenty one year old son leaves the group to
> retrieve a tool in his nearby house. The explosion occurs when the son
> is inside the house, and he returns to where he left his father, only
> to find that the shop has disappeared. Since he knew where his father
> and friends were immediately before the explosion, he begins to dig
> for them. He is joined by other neighbors. Eventually, he and his
> father are able to talk to one another. However, the son cannot
> determine the location of his father in the pile of rubble. By
> accident, he finds a carburetor hose his father had bought that
> morning, and he begins to use it to probe the pile of rubble for his
> father. From below, the father eventually sees the light of day
> through the debris, and begins to direct the probe. After some misses,
> he grabs hold of the hose. The son then uses the hose to direct the
> rescue effort, and the father is rescued alive"** (Aguirre et. al.
> 1995, 83).
>
> 6\. **"The chances of people surviving the blast were directly
> proportional to the presence among the searchers of a person or
> persons who cared for the victim and who knew the victim's likely
> location"** (Aguirre 1995, 81).
>
> E. **Victims will cooperate with each other during entrapment and with
> rescuers during extraction.**
>
> 1\. **"A man and his two nephews are having breakfast in their home.
> The explosion buries them alive. The man reports experiencing a great
> amount of difficulty breathing. He can hear his two nephews near him
> in the rubble. He talks to them and synchronizes their scream for help
> at his count of three. Eventually, people hear them and save them"**
> (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 75).
>
> 2\. **"A young adult shares a bedroom with his younger brother. They
> are asleep when the explosion occurs and are buried alive. He reports
> feeling initially confused, but soon begins to struggle to free
> himself from the debris and succeeds in doing so after ten minutes or
> so. Just as he frees himself his other brother arrives and he is able
> to alert him that their brother is still trapped. He is** **injured
> and cannot participate in the rescue, but directs it by telling the
> rescuers where the brother's bed was in the room. The respondent
> refuses to leave for the hospital until his own brother is rescued
> alive, for initially the rescuers ignored his directions and searched
> for the brother in the wrong side of the room"** (Aguirre et. al.
> 1995, 77).
>
> 3\. **"Rescuers hear through the rubble a man calling for help. He has
> been protected by a heavy slab of concrete, and they rescue him alive.
> The man then tells the rescuers about his three children still in the
> rubble. The rescuers eventually find them, but the young boys are
> crushed to death"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 76).
>
> 4\. **"Neighbors, in conjunction with Army and Red Cross personnel,
> begin to look for a mother and her six children that lived in a
> one-room apartment in a multi-family building . . . . When they find
> the woman in the rubble she is embracing three of her children. A
> table protected them from getting hurt by pieces of the roof and
> walls, and they are alive. The mother then tells the rescuers that her
> other children are still buried in the room. They continue to search,
> and twenty minutes later find them. Two of the children are rescued
> alive. However, her five year old daughter is dead of massive head
> injuries"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 76).
>
> 5\. **"A woman owns a small restaurant. She is serving breakfast to
> four men with whom she has a relationship as clients. She is the first
> to be rescued from the rubble of her restaurant and immediately
> reports to her rescuers the last location of the entrapped clients in
> it. Thus facilitating their response"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 76).
>
> 6\. **"As shown by some of these examples, many of the victims
> actively participated in increasing their chances of survival and in
> their rescue. Some victims mentioned that they moved their bodies ever
> so slowly to create more space for themselves among the rubble that
> trapped them. Others called attention to themselves to help rescuers
> know their location. Perhaps one of the most dramatic cases we
> encountered is that of a man who told his son to try to move his arm
> towards the surface of the earth to help him locate him. He finally
> rescued the child and as he was moving out of the location of the
> rescue, he turned to see the arm of his son's friend protrude from the
> ground. He returned, called others to continue helping him, and the
> friend was saved"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 77).
>
> F. **Professional rescuers may or may not integrate their activities
> with volunteer efforts**.
>
> 1\. **"Upon arrival at the site, formal rescuers used the knowledge of
> neighbors to locate victims and made use of the volunteer manpower to
> remove debris and help in all phases of the rescue efforts, while
> volunteers relied on their specialized knowledge of extraction and
> transport of the victims"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 80).
>
> 2\. **"The organization of SAR activities and their location at the
> site of the explosion changed rapidly, for it was supplemented by the
> efforts of formal organizations. For example, the Red and Green Cross
> teams began to organize civilians into SAR groups of 20 persons or so,
> and these teams were augmented by military, fire, and police
> personnel"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 80).
>
> 3\. **In other cases, however, "the integration of volunteer and
> established organizational activities is seldom efficiently
> achieved"** (Wenger 1989, 4).
>
> 4\. **Scawthorn and Wenger (1990, 4) state formal organizations are
> not always able to "integrate volunteer, citizen activity with their
> own actions."**

**Objective 14.3 Draw out the important issues that must be considered
when implementing search and rescue operations.**

**Requirements:**

**Present the following as a lecture**:

I. There are a **number of issues** that **influence the outcome** of
search and rescue operations.

> A. **For instance, "the nature and effectiveness of search and rescue
> is influenced by such prior variables as the size and resources of the
> community, the level and quality of emergency and disaster planning,
> the nature of local building codes and construction practices, the
> predictability, forewarning, destructive capacity and scope of impact
> of the agent, the time of impact, the cultural and work patterns of
> the community, and many others. Furthermore, the nature of search and
> rescue activity is inherently related to the process of providing
> emergency medical services to the victims"** (Quarantelli 1983)"
> (Wenger 1989, 7).

II\. It is imperative that the following **factors** be **considered**
for **successful operations**:

> A. **Adequate and appropriate tools and equipment** will be needed.
>
> 1\. **"Tools depend on . . . the needs of the situation. For example,
> storm or earthquake damage may require tools for lifting debris
> whereas flood damage may require boats, ropes and life preservers"**
> (FEMA 2003, V-4).
>
> 2\. There have been **cases** where **heavy equipment is lacking**
> (Scawthorn and Wenger 1985, 2):
>
> 3\. It is important to **"wear safety equipment and clothing
> appropriate to the task**. In search and rescue operations, **the
> equipment will include**:
>
> a\. **helmet or hard hat**
>
> b\. **goggles**
>
> c\. **dust mask**
>
> d\. **whistle** (to alert others if you get trapped)
>
> e\. **leather work gloves**
>
> f\. **steel-toed boots"** (FEMA 2003, V-14)
>
> B. **Situational awareness is vital.**
>
> 1\. **Different types of buildings will have different occupancy
> levels (e.g. schools, apartments, churches, hospitals, nursing homes,
> airports, etc)**.
>
> 2\. **"Be alert for hazards, such as sharp objects, dust, hazardous
> materials, power lines, leaking natural gas, high water, fire hazards,
> and unstable structures. If water is present, check the depth before
> entering. Never enter rising water."** (FEMA 2003, V-14.
>
> C. **Rescuer needs and safety must be ensured.**
>
> 1\. Be aware of the demanding nature of this work; **rotate
> personnel** to avoid fatigue.
>
> a\. Note: **Many rescuers are injured or killed when they become
> tired**.
>
> 2\. **Provide sufficient fluids and food** for rescue personnel.
>
> 3\. "**Always work in pairs, with a third person as a runner**" (FEMA
> 2003, V-14).
>
> D. **Time is of the essence.**
>
> 1\. **". . . the chances of live rescue decrease rapidly after the
> initial 'golden hour.'"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995, 68).
>
> 2\. **"Time may be very limited for some victims. The first 24 hours
> after a disaster has been called the 'Golden Day' -- that period
> during which injured or trapped victims have an 80 percent chance of
> survival if rescued"** (FEMA 2003, V-4).
>
> E. **Victims will need prompt medical care**.
>
> 1\. **Quarantelli** (1983) has **illustrated** the **difficulty of
> accessing victims and getting them appropriate medical care**.
>
> **2. "Buried and entrapped victims are likely to suffer from injuries
> that require life-sustaining intervention including compromised access
> to air, severe loss of blood and body fluid, crushing injury, and
> internal damage to essential organ systems"** (Aguirre et. al. 1995,
> 68).
>
> 3\. **"Durkin noted that many seriously injured persons were rescued
> by those without medical training. Therefore, the importance of
> immediate availability of stabilizing care at the collapse site and
> integrating medical assistance into the search and rescue process is
> indicated"** (Scawthorn and Wenger 1985, 5).

**Objective 14.4 Provide background information about professional SAR
teams and discuss their relative merit as compared to volunteer/emergent
SAR teams.**

**Requirements:**

**Present the following as a lecture and discussion**:

I. Professional urban SAR teams play an important role in disaster
response.

> A. **In 1989**, after major disasters resulting in urban structural
> collapses, the **Federal Emergency Management Agency created the
> National Urban Search and Rescue Response**.
>
> 1\. The National Urban Search and Rescue Response is made up of **28
> FEMA urban SAR Task Forces** that are **spread throughout the
> continental United States**.
>
> 2\. These **Task Forces are comprised of fire fighters, engineers,
> doctors, paramedics and canine teams** from local communities.
>
> 3\. Each Task Force has been **given 60,000 pounds of equipment
> (approximately 16,400 pieces)** by the Federal Emergency Management
> Agency. **This** **includes**:
>
> a\. **Medical supplies** such as:

-   **medicines**

-   **intravenous fluids**

-   **blankets**

-   **suture** **sets**

-   **defibrillators**

-   **burn treatment supplies**

-   **bone saws**

-   **and scalpels**.

> b\. **Search and rescue machines and supplies** including

-   **concrete saws**

-   **jackhammers**

-   **drills**

-   **lumber**

-   **and rope.**

> c\. **Communications and electronic supplies** such as:

-   **radios**

-   **cell** **phones**

-   **and laptop computers**

> d\. **Logistics supplies** such as:

-   **sleeping bags**

-   **cots**

-   **food**

-   **and water**.

> B. If a disaster receives a **Presidential declaration**, and **if the
> disaster warrants** search and rescue, the **FEMA urban SAR teams may
> be activated**.
>
> 1\. The **team members will be notified**
>
> 2\. The team members will **unite at the specified location** (e.g. an
> airport)
>
> 3\. The team members will **load their equipment** onto military C-130
> transport aircraft.
>
> 4\. The team will **travel to** **the disaster site**
>
> 5\. **Work will continue until services are no longer needed**
>
> 6\. The team will then be **transported home**
>
> 7\. In some cases, numerous **teams will be rotated in and out of the
> disaster** to avoid fatigue and allow others to gain experience
>
> C. There are many **benefits of** these **professional urban SAR
> teams**.
>
> 1\. The teams are **highly trained**
>
> 2\. The teams are **fully equipped**
>
> 3\. The teams have **prior SAR experience** in major disasters
>
> 4\. The teams **receive funding from the Federal government**
>
> D. There are a few **significant drawbacks** associated with these
> professional urban SAR teams however:
>
> 1\. **"Professional SAR teams,** despite the massive attention they
> usually receive from the mass media (Quarantelli 1991), most **often
> arrive too late** **to rescue alive significant proportions of
> victims"** (Aguirre 1995, 68).
>
> 2\. Wenger (1989, 4) asserts that "although professional search and
> rescue teams provide a valuable service, **they often arrive too late
> to undertake other than highly specialized rescue activities requiring
> sophisticated skills or equipment . . .**"
>
> 3\. The **teams are** **very expensive to maintain and operate**.
>
> 4\. The teams may be **inadequate for some disasters** (there will
> **not be sufficient professional SAR teams for major or multiple
> disasters** throughout the country).

II\. **Because of the** **late arrival and insufficient quantity** of
professional **SAR teams**, it will become necessary that **citizens and
volunteers** engage in search and rescue activities.

> A. These individuals and groups **are advantageous for disaster
> response**.
>
> 1\. Citizens and volunteers **can perform vital search and rescue
> services when professional teams are not present or are
> insufficient**.
>
> 2\. These people **know or are familiar with the
> area/building/victims**.
>
> B. These individuals and groups may **create unintentional problems**
> however.
>
> 1\. **Volunteer rescuers may unintentionally** **kill or injure
> victims**.
>
> 2\. **"Experience has shown that immediately after almost every major
> disaster, the first response to trapped and injured victims is by
> spontaneous, untrained, and well-intentioned persons paying little or
> no regard to personal safety. In some cases, further loss of life is
> avoided. More often than not, however, spontaneous rescue efforts
> result in serious injuries and compounded problems"** (FEMA 2003,
> V-3).

III\. The professor may want to **engage the class in a discussion** at
this point in the lecture.

> A. **Ask and discuss the following questions**:
>
> 1\. **When were FEMA's professional SAR teams created and why?**
>
> 2\. **What type of equipment to these teams possess?**
>
> 3\. **How are these teams activated?**
>
> 4\. **Why are professional SAR teams needed?**
>
> 5\. **What are the benefits of professional SAR teams?**
>
> 6\. **Are there any drawbacks associated with professional SAR
> teams?**
>
> 7\. **Why is it important to have citizens and volunteers involved in
> disasters?**
>
> 8\. **How do citizens SAR teams overcome the drawbacks of professional
> SAR teams?**
>
> 9\. **What are the potential problems associated with citizen SAR
> teams?**
>
> 10\. **Is it important to train citizens for SAR operations? Why?**
>
> 11\. **What are the planning implications of the above SAR issues?**
>
> B. **As the discussion proceeds, the professor may want to**:
>
> 1\. **Revisit some of the points made in the above portion of the
> session (see handout "Comparing Professional and Volunteer SAR
> Teams")**.
>
> 2\. **Point out that**:
>
> a\. **while professional teams are highly skilled and equipped, they
> often arrive too late to save lives (especially in widespread
> disasters)**
>
> b\. **individuals and groups that volunteer their services will be
> needed to make up for the lack of professional SAR teams**
>
> c\. **the problems associated with citizen SAR teams can be overcome
> through community education and training** (such as FEMA's Community
> Emergency Response Training)
>
> d\. **efforts should be made to integrate the activities of
> professional and volunteer SAR teams at the scene of disaster (e.g.
> volunteers can perform simple tasks so that** **trained professionals
> may focus on more difficult rescue operations).**

**Objective 14.5 Describe the process of search and rescue operations as
performed by CERT members.**

**Requirements:**

**Present the following as a lecture**:

I. An **elaborate process** must be **undertaken to ensure a successful
search and rescue operation in urban settings**. The **Federal Emergency
Management Agency and the Emergency Management Institute**, in their
**Community Emergency Response Training (CERT)**, assert there are
**seven steps**. Those participating should:

> A. **Gather facts**.
>
> 1\. One of the **first things that must** be done is to **size up the
> situation**. Be sure to **consider**:
>
> a\. The **number of potential victims**.
>
> b\. The **type and age of construction**.
>
> c\. The **status and potential influence of the weather**.
>
> d\. The **presence of hazards** such as **sharp objects**, downed
> **power lines**, **broken gas lines,** etc.
>
> B. **Assess damage to the building.**
>
> 1\. **Walk around the building**, and **view** the structure **from
> different angles**.
>
> 2\. While performing the size up, **consider** the **following general
> guidelines**:

  ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------
  **If Structural Damage is . . .**  **Then the SAR Mission is . . .**

  **Light**: Superficial or cosmetic To locate, triage, and prioritize
  damage, broken windows, fallen     removal of victims to the designated
  plaster, primary damage to         treatment area for the medical
  contents of structure . . .        operation teams.

  **Moderate**: Questionable         To locate, stabilize, and
  structural stability; fractures,   immediately evacuate victims to a
  tilting, foundation movement or    safe areas while minimizing the
  displacement                       number of rescuers inside the
                                     building.

  **Heavy**: Obvious structural      To secure the building perimeter and
  instability; partial or total wall control access into the structure by
  collapse, ceiling failures . . .   untrained but well-intentioned
                                     volunteers; seek professional
                                     assistance.
  ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------

> C. **Identify and acquire resources**.
>
> 1\. This may include the **availability of and need for**:
>
> a\. **Personnel**
>
> b\. **Tools and equipment**
>
> D. **Establish rescue priorities**.
>
> 1\. **Determine** the **urgency of the situation** and verify that it
> is **safe to proceed** with the search and rescue operation.
>
> 2\. **If the circumstances dictate**, it is advisable to:
>
> a\. **Condemn building** (ensure no one enters the structure)
>
> b\. **Call for additional professional assistance** (e.g. trained
> search and rescue teams)
>
> c\. **Wait** until additional help arrives
>
> 3\. **"Easy" rescues should be conducted first** before proceeding to
> the rescues that will require additional human or material resources.
>
> E **Develop a rescue plan**.
>
> 1\. **Determine the following**:
>
> a\. **Who will enter** the building
>
> b\. **How they will enter** the building safely
>
> c\. **What can be done to find and free the trapped individuals**
>
> d\. **How to ensure the safety** of both the **rescuers** and
> **trapped victims**
>
> F. **Conduct the search and rescue operation**.
>
> 1\. **Search for people under debris and in voids**. This may involve:
>
> a\. **Calling out** (e.g. asking if people can hear you, if they need
> help, and where they are)
>
> b\. **Covering the entire building**

-   Search from the **bottom-up or top-down**

-   **Follow walls on the right** until you complete each floor

-   **Look** at debris piles **from different angles**

-   **Stop and listen periodically for breathing, whistling, speaking,
    whispering, tapping, etc**.

> c\. **Using levers, cribbing and lifting to access the victim**

-   Long **pieces of wood** (e.g. 2X4) may be **used to lift debris**
    off of people.

-   **Cribbing is wood stacked under debris** after it has been lifted
    by a lever.

-   **Note: the use of levers and cribbing should be done slowly and on
    a rotating basis (e.g. lift a foot, crib a foot). The purpose of
    cribbing is to increase void space and ensure stability of debris
    pile so victim retrieval can occur**.

-   **Note: lifting can be dangerous if not done properly**. **Be sure
    to lift in the following way: bend your knees and squat, keep the
    load close to your body, keep your back straight, and push up with
    legs**.

> d\. **Removing/Moving the victim to safety**.

-   Have the **victim exit the building on their own** if able to do so.

-   **Assist the victim by supporting, lifting, or dragging them**

-   **Use back pack holds, chair carry, blanket carry**, etc as needed

-   **Note: Unless there is immediate danger, people with major head,
    neck and back injuries should not be removed until professional
    medical help arrives**.

> e\. **Seeking and/or provide necessary medical assistance**.

-   **Note: this will be covered in the next session**.

> f\. **Marking searched areas** with spray paint.

-   Use **"/" to denote the building is being search**

-   Use **"X" to denote the building has been searched**

-   **Provide addition information** near the "X" including **searcher
    initials, time/date, hazards, number of victims still inside**.

-   An **"X" placed inside a box denotes "danger, do not enter."**

> g\. **Documenting results**

-   This is **important to** **avoid duplication of effort**.

> G. **Evaluate your progress**.

1.  "**This is the most important step from a safety standpoint. The
    rescuers must continually monitor the situation to prevent any harm
    to the rescuers. Also, they determine if their plan is working, and
    if not, how it can be changed to make it work**" (FEMA 2003, V-13).

> H. Note: **CERTs** can be **valuable** resources for very **basic
> response activities**. Because their training is limited, **CERTs
> should not be considered the primary response mechanism** for
> disasters.

**Questions to be asked:**

**1. Have any of you (students) participated in search and rescue
operations?**

**2. What are the different types of search and rescue operations?**

**3. How do people behave when engaging in search and rescue
activities?**

**4. What issues must be considered when performing search and rescue
operations?**

**5. How do professional and volunteer SAR teams overcome each other's
weaknesses?**

**6. What is the process for conducting search and rescue operations in
urban settings?**

**Types of Search and Rescue Operations**

-   **Rural search and rescue**

-   **Swift water rescue**

-   **Air patrolled search and rescue**

-   **Urban search and rescue**

-   **Winter search and rescue**

**Findings from the Research Literature**

**(Wenger 1989, 2)**

**1. "The initial search and rescue activity is undertaken by victims
and volunteers.**

**2. The magnitude of the volunteer response is extensive.**

**3. Most victims are rescued by volunteer and emergent organizational
activity.**

**4. Formal, professional search and rescue activity is subsequent and
supplemental to the initial volunteer actions.**

**5. There is considerable difficulty in integrating and coordinating
volunteer and formal, organizational actions.**

**6. Search and rescue, even among formal, established organizations,
presents serious problems of coordination and management."**

**Factors to Consider for Successful**

**Search and Rescue Operations**

-   **Adequate and appropriate tools and equipment are needed**

-   **Situational awareness is vital**

-   **Rescuer needs and safety must be ensured**

-   **Victim well-being must not be neglected**

-   **Time is of the essence**

-   **Victims will need prompt medical care**

**Comparing Professional and Volunteer SAR Teams**

-   **Volunteer teams arrive at the disaster site first**

-   **Volunteer teams are familiar with the area, building and victims**

-   **Volunteer teams generally perform simple SAR operations only**

-   **Volunteer teams become more important when disasters are severe or
    wide-spread**

-   **Professional teams can be mobilized if needed when a disaster is
    declared by the President**

-   **Professional teams are well-equipped and supplied**

-   **Professional teams have extensive training and experience**

-   **Professional teams are most likely to perform difficult SAR
    operations that require technical expertise**

**The Search and Rescue Process**

**1. Gather facts**

**2. Assess damages**

**3. Identify and acquire resources**

**4. Establish rescue priorities**

**5. Develop a rescue plan**

**6. Conduct search and rescue operations**

**7. Evaluate progress periodically**