August, 2009 edition #9

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SAR silver screen celebration

It was a glittering night at the Wellington Club on the evening of July 6. Not only did SARINZ sign its new partnership agreement with NZOG (see Our New Partner article), but the new television series The Missing was launched, along with the LandSAR "Yeti" television commercial.

It was a wonderful celebration of SAR in New Zealand. Deputy Police Commissioner Rob Pope, Minister of Transport Hon Steven Joyce and people from the TV industry addressed the audience of around 80.

The Minister commented that The Missing has helped with closure for many families --   knowing that all aspects of these historic cases have been checked and rechecked. SARINZ and LandSAR involvement in the series highlights the expertise of both organisations and the passionate professionalism of New Zealand's SAR practitioners, he said.

There is general unanimity that production company Screentime made a great job of the series. SARINZ CEO David Shearer summed it up at the launch: " It was masterful to watch not only how Screentime navigated the tension between TV drama and real life tragedy but how the programme further demonstrates the passionate professionalism that is search and rescue in New Zealand."

The evening was a fitting accolade for SAR Development Manager/Instructor Ross Gordon who led SARINZ contributions to the production -- and assisted with presenting it -- but it afforded recognition also for Tony Wells and Pete Corbett of SARINZ and the many volunteers who also gave generously of their time and expertise.

David Shearer said an underlying highlight of the evening was that it celebrated SAR, as well, the high degree of interaction between SARINZ and LandSAR.

SAR responds to training opportunities

SAR in New Zealand is having a great year if the number of practitioners undertaking training is anything to go by.

In the first half of 2009, 1527 people attended courses provided by SARINZ -- nearly double the number at the same time last year.

There is much to celebrate about this: the SAR community is affirming in greater numbers the importance of training to develop and maintain skills.

More people on more courses means that vastly more learning is taking place and that can only be good for everyone, not just SAR subjects.

It's less of a boom year for refresher training, but the above news demonstrates that if access to training is simplified and streamlined, the demand will be there.

SARINZ CEO David Shearer says initiatives to eliminate complexity when it comes to accessing refresher training will continue to be improved as SARINZ pursues the goal to "... have helped create a self-sufficient training system where SAR practitioners receive training as and when they need it, delivered consistently around the country, by their peers, to a world-leading standard --  a training system that is the envy of SAR practitioners worldwide.

"The ongoing maintenance of skills is essential and the role of SARINZ in that is to provide opportunities for that to happen."

Looking at how SAREXs can be used as training exercises is one example, as is the increased provision of resources to groups to enable them to conduct their own training to supplement what SARINZ and Tai Poutini Polytechnic already offer, and ensure that that group training meets industry best practice.

Editorial

David Shearer - CEO SARINZ

It is a fact that without exception all of SARINZ staff are volunteers.

Each of our staff members contributes on average 15 hours a month to voluntary activities in some industry, sector, organisation or other. As well as being deeply compatible with SARINZ's stated commitment to helping others save lives, it illustrates yet again just how many Kiwis volunteer their time for the benefit of their communities.

It is, of course, the skilled teamwork of SAR personel that the lost and injured rely upon to find them.

The filming of The Missing poignantly brought all this -- the team spirit and community volunteering ethos that characterizes the wider SAR environment --  home to me yet again. Feedback I have received has conveyed the gratitude and appreciation of the families involved in the programme. They were awed by the commitment and the intensity of involvement of everyone involved in the show. Screentime producer, Philly Iles was impressed by it too, calling the Bolitho story, the second episode, "the mother of all exercises", with the Air Force, NZ Police, LandSAR, SARINZ and many others besides involved intensely in revisiting this case.

One scene in particular, which must be lying on a cutting-room floor somewhere because it never made it to air, had a marked impact on me. Craig Cardie and Jane Morris, two searchers from Mt Cook rescue team, were walking an alpine landscape framed by a clear blue sky and bright sunshine. There they were in the purest of New Zealand's alpine landscapes and yet their attentions were focused not on the beauty of the environment but on the various scenarios that led to Conon Bolitho becoming missing. All the angles of what could possibly have happened were exhaustively explored. For me this scene epitomised the dedication and selflessness of search and rescue in New Zealand.

It's a theme that pervades the show and SAR -- people putting others before themselves, maximising their effectiveness in that activity by working together.

NZOG: Our new partner

As mentioned elsewhere, SARINZ has signed a research & development partnership agreement with New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd (NZOG).

Under the arrangement NZOG is SARINZ's sole corporate R&D partner but the benefits of the partnership reach far beyond a funding agreement.

New Zealand Oil & Gas Limited (NZOG) is an independent, Wellington-based exploration and production company listed on both the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges. It has around 15,000 retail and institutional shareholders. NZOG has two key assets, partnerships in the Tui and Kupe energy fields, two significant investments in Pike River and Pan Pacific, a promising exploration portfolio and is pursuing an ambitious growth strategy.

NZOG is a can-do Kiwi company with a reach beyond these shores. That is something it has in common with SARINZ, and it is NZOG's experience in research and international best practice that we are particularly interested in tapping into.

Taking SAR skills to industry

SARINZ has recently commenced delivering rope rescue training to Fonterra's Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) in various parts of the country.

The dairy co-operative has teams based at Tirau, Hautapu, Te Rapa and Waitoa in the Waikato, at Whareroa near Hawera and at Clandeboye in South Canterbury. Along with emergency response the ERTs must be highly competent in dealing with medical incidents and fire/hazardous materials. More than 100 ERT members and Fonterra staff members took part in this training.

The SARINZ rope rescue team --  Grant Prattley, SARINZ Programme Manager Rescue, Dean Arthur, Dave Gold and Jason Watson -- has delivered a four-day course at each ERT location in this, the first year of the two-year contract.

The team has been working together since 2003 but this is the first time it has been able to take its SAR, emergency management and height safety expertise to an industrial environment.

Anyone who has driven past one of these Fonterra locations will appreciate their need for rope rescue training: the massive powder drying towers reach as high as 80 metres. But the training provided here is not restricted to the factory sites themselves. The Fonterra ERTs act as a resource for their local communities as well, so the SARINZ rope rescue training they receive also includes offsite work and preparation to respond to community exercises, including SAR.

Each ERT member receives a written assignment at the end of each workshop. One of the themes of this edition of Heads Up is the need for ongoing training to maintain response readiness; in keeping with that principle the rope rescue team returns to the ERT site at least once later on to ensure the skills learned have been embedded.

"The important outcome for us is that these people are capable of doing the rescue job when required. Our job is to make sure they can," says Grant Prattley.

Each Fonterra site has one day a month when it shuts down for maintenance and that is when the ERT teams get their training.

Instructor profile

Allan Gamble

After a career like Allan Gamble's had, you couldn't blame him for kicking back and enjoying retirement in the Thames sunshine. And he is doing that ... sort of.

The retired Principal Rural Fire Officer brings plenty of mussels and snapper in from the Firth of Thames and he grows all his own veges.

"There's 900 hectares of mussel farms out in the Firth of Thames and we fish in amongst the mussel farms in the winter when it's a bit harder. In the summer we fish straight out in front of the house here."

But he also finds himself in demand as a SAR instructor.

After 21 years as a marine engineer in the navy, Allan went to the Far North where he was Principal Rural Fire Officer for 12 years. While there, he and Police Sergeant Jan Chipman helped set up the Far North SAR group because of lengthy response times from Whangarei.

SARINZ instructing came about because of his relationship with Tai Poutini which grew out of his work in implementing CIMS (Co-ordinated Incident Management System) in his fire district.

"I put together a course for my own use here in Thames and we started putting our training through Tai Poutini because they were the best at it."

This was about six years ago. Allan says he scouted around a fair bit but decided that the benefits of using Tai Poutini outweighed the fact it was based way down on the West Coast. "And Joe Hayes was an OK guy to work with."

He says it was Tai Poutini who suggested to SARINZ that this newly-retired bloke from up north would make a pretty good instructor.

Allan, Nick Coyne and Pete Corbett have been developing a combined two-day CIMS-MLSO refresher training course. They have run a couple of trials and a third one was due in a couple of weeks at Ohakea.

He says refresher courses are a great idea for, especially, people who are not getting regular callouts that enable them to practise their skills. They also help SAR people keep up with changes in technology. Networking is a further benefit of refresher courses, Allan reckons -- when you need to call in extra hands, it helps to know who you can call on.

"Knowing people you've trained with and feel comfortable working with is always a bonus."

"Nobody else was doing it."

Robert Koester talks to HeadsUp

Internationally recognised SAR researcher Robert Koester was in New Zealand again recently courtesy of SARINZ Trust R&D programme. He was here to design a testing methodology to conduct sweep width (POD) trials for land-based sound and light search methods.

That's a bit of mouthful and Robert agrees sweep width is a "horrible term that confuses people", adding that the person who came up it thinks so too.

"All it does is confuse people. A better term, and I don't mind if you use it, is detection index. A detection index measures how easy or hard it is to find something. If you're looking for a bullet casing tossed out into the field, that might have a detection index of less than a metre. That's the spacing between people searching, or it could be the width of the sweep of one person going back and forth, that would provide a 63% chance of locating the target."

Conversely: "If you're looking for somebody shining a flashlight in an open field in the middle of the night, then the detection index would be quite large."

"In this trial (held in the St Arnaud area) we set out to test experimental methodology or procedures for how to do a test for sound and light that had never been done before. We weren't really looking so much for results as to make sure that how we conducted the experiment made sense, so that when trials are conducted in the future they will produce good results. It was a pilot on how to conduct these experiments."

Robert's SAR career started at the volunteer level in 1981 with a group at the University of Virginia where he studied for his master's degree in neuroscience. He is still a member of that group, having risen through the operational ranks to hold senior positions.
He's one of those lucky guys whose passion presented him with a career: "SAR has sort of become my academic career as well. The first research I ever did looking at the behaviour of lost dementia, or Alzheimer's, subjects. Nobody else was doing it and there was a need for somebody to do it."

He borrowed knowledge from other sectors and adapted it to suit his purposes: " I built upon research that had come out of the US Coastguard-maritime world and modified it so it would work in the land environment, and I led the team that did tests on it all around the US."

Leader of the current SARINZ sweep width research project Tony Wells says that having Robert design the experiments ensures that the data is "...of a validity to be internationally published and directly comparable to data already published on visual search."

"Robert is a respected international SAR theorist and SAR practitioner, who has contributed significantly to the international SAR scene through his work with Alzheimer's research from a SAR perspective and his lost person behaviour research and subsequent publication.

"The involvement of Robert in the experiment designs brings international prestige to the project, will help insure that all findings withstand international scrutiny and bring a marketable quality on the international stage when the experiment findings are published."

As well as in his native USA, Robert's expertise is well regarded in Canada, Australia and other countries, but New Zealand holds a special place for him.

"I was presenting at a research symposium once in Denver, Colorado, when I met Ross Gordon. We struck up a friendship and a year or two later we went to another conference, and then another, and then it was decided in 2003 I should come to New Zealand for my honeymoon. In doing so I would deliver seven lectures for SARINZ. I struck many friendships and made a lot of connections on that visit.

"What I like is learning from others. You learn so much by exchanging ideas. I've never been couched into 'one right way', that's not really my belief system."

New Zealand is where, last year, he launched his first book Lost Person Behaviour: (though by no means his first publication). "It was the first time I've put all my research into one place. It's based on solid academic data with hundreds of references hidden away for people who want to find them, but it really was written for the practitioner, the person running a mission. And that's pretty much who's buying it."

The first print run of 2,000 is already sold out and the work has been translated into Spanish, Norwegian and "British English". Copies can now be found on six of the seven continents -- "I just need to get it into Asia!"

One of the challenges facing Robert in writing his book must have been the fact every search is different and every subject is different.

"There are hundreds of different parameters and every person is unique, and you need to look at the unique specifics of the individual and the case, but (in the book) I have tried to focus on the generalities and some of the more important factors to consider, especially at the beginning of the search when information can be sketchy if not outright unknown."

The section titled Myths and Legends has been very well received, he says.

"People who are trampers have told me they got a kick out of reading what trampers do and some of their general behaviours."

Pressed for an example, he offers: "A lot of people think subjects will turn to the left or right depending on whether they are left or right-handed but that turns out, in the woods, to be a total myth. It's based upon a little bit of reality but once you get into the outdoors it doesn't matter one bit. If you were lost in the library, for example, and you were left-handed, there's a 70% chance you would turn to the left at a T intersection, but if you're in the outdoors, if the wind is blowing one way, you are likely to turn away from it; if a strap on your pack is slightly heavier on one side you are likely to turn that way; you are more likely to turn downhill, or away from thick brush."

And are Kiwis smarter in the bush than anyone else?

"One of the things I have done, because it was pretty easy to do, was compare New Zealand trampers against the rest of the world's hikers. And it turns out there's absolutely no difference."

And that surprised him, given New Zealand's closer affinity with tramping than is the case in most countries: "It's more a part of the culture here, and the tracks are nicer."

Special thanks to Sherp Tucker and members of Tasman Search and Rescue (and one from Canterbury) that participated in the trial. Without your support the trial could not have been completed.

Staff profile

Nick Coyne Senior Instructor - Search

Nick was a Tolaga Bay livestock and cropping farmer for some 20 years until about six months ago when he sold most of his property, retaining just enough land to run "... a few cattle" as a lifestyle undertaking. He originally hailed from Makahu in the back-blocks of Taranaki, 50-odd kilometres directly east of Mt Taranaki (Egmont). He worked his way into farming via deer shooting and possum trapping. 

As a farmer well versed in the ways of the bush he was an active member of his local SAR group, and over the last 20 years has served in most positions in the Gisborne district's search and rescue organisation. He is presently on the regional committee and is district SAR advisor. Along with this experience he holds formal qualifications in agriculture, outdoor instruction, and search and rescue.

In 2001 Nick teamed up with Ross Gordon in the latter's Emergency Management Ltd, tutoring tracking and other search field skills nationally. 

"Since 2003 I have been employed by SARINZ. The scope of my tutoring is from field skills to search management and I have delivered to SAR, civilian and military organisations.

"My senior instructor role in SARINZ is to give support and guidance to the programme managers and other SARINZ personnel. This gives me contact with not only the national/international search educators and innovators but also those doing the practical tasks involved in search."

The thing Nick enjoys most about his work, he says, is seeing how all the different SAR districts operate and how they respond operationally: 

"Being a tutor throughout New Zealand presents an opportunity for me to listen and talk to other SAR practitioners. This enables me to fulfil my role by providing feedback to SARINZ management".

Keeping current after training

By Carl McOnie, Training Designer/Instructor

Leaders at all levels in SAR must ensure that their teams maintain their ability to do their jobs under SAR operational conditions. Key to a SAR team's readiness is training -- training that is continuous, progressive, realistic and relevant.

To just go on a course is not enough. Research shows that in most instances if you don't use the skills you have learned within 60 days up to 75% of that knowledge will be lost!

There are two basic categories to SAR training: individual and collective training.

While SARINZ offers individual training at its workshops, collective training is conducted at group level.

Individual and collective SAR proficiency rise and fall as time goes by. For example when was the last time you had to administer first aid or were involved in a multi-day search? As we all know these are infrequent occurrences. However, to be operational you need be prepared for these eventualities - to rely solely on one training course would be foolhardy (and dangerous). Through continuation training we can flatten out these peaks and troughs, and maintain individual and collective skills at a more consistently high level. This continuation training is vital for teams and individuals who need to be ready to go at a moment's notice.

The continuation approach requires constant evaluation of priority tasks; continuation training corrects any weaknesses identified in these tasks, whether they are individual or team.

Training at SARINZ focuses on ensuring that search managers and SAR team members can be readily integrated into their SAR group. Once they are back in their groups, the emphasis should turn to collective training.

However, individual training also needs to be conducted at group level to enhance individual competence and maintain search managers' and team members' ability to contribute effectively.

On training day/night, simultaneous activities are preferable so that everyone's time is spent gainfully. For example, while management is working on, say, a paper-based scenario, team leaders might be conducting training on leadership, team members might be undergoing medical training and teams might be training on search methods.

SARINZ welcomes feedback from everyone in SAR. We are compiling best-of-the-best training modules for SAR practitioners and groups to use where and when they need it. However, to do this we need your feedback and thoughts on what training activities work and which ones don't work. Please contact me directly with your thoughts, feedback or questions at carl@sarinz.com

Update From The Sarinz Admin Team

Margie Sharkey, Office Manager

It has been a busy year so far for all SARINZ staff with a record number of courses with high student numbers. This has meant a lot more administration for Lynne and myself and so we have needed extra hands in the office. Toni Holmes joined us in April; she immediately fitted in and has proved to be another great asset to the SARINZ team.

Course Bookings

The new booking system started in January is very successful. We are getting a high return rate with the course participants lists. Our aim is to hit the 100% mark by the end of the year. We encourage all Course Co-ordinators to send their lists to lynne@sarinz.com at least three weeks before the course. The most important information we require is the student's name and date of birth. We can then check the students on our database, and also the National Student Index, to confirm whether they need to provide ID and which enrolment form to fill out.

Online enrolments

Students can now enrol online for courses at www.sarinz.com. The student's details are then forwarded on to the Course Co-ordinator who confirms their attendance and add them to the Course Participants list.

Training Survey

SARINZ ability to realise and meet the needs of search and rescue is dependent on regular relevant feedback from the course participants and the wider SAR sector. As is detailed in this edition of HeadsUp, your ongoing support and feedback is essential.
There are four questions we need you to answer:

• Do you believe that the instruction or training activity was conducted efficiently and effectively?
• Were the training objectives actually achieved?
• Are you confident about being able to perform the job/task to the standard/level required?
• Can delivery be improved?

In answering these questions, the efficiency and effectiveness of the training can be considered. If objectives have not been met, we can remedy this. Further, such data is critical in determining what additional training is required.

We have set up an anonymous online feedback forum so you can share your thoughts, questions, criticisms or compliments about SARINZ training and business. Alternately feel free to contact SARINZ CEO at any time (dave@sarinz.com). Your feedback makes SARINZ better and helps to save lives.

Training Survey Links

Training surveys are linked from SARINZ Home page or alternatively follow this link

Q&A

When do I fill out the white enrolment form?

The white enrolment form needs to be filled out by anyone attending a SARINZ/TPP Search & Rescue course for the first time. If you have attended other courses at Tai Poutini you still need to fill out the white form. If you aren't sure then please fill out the white form.

SAR First Aid Courses: Am I eligible for the one-day refresher or do I need to do the full course?

There appears to be some confusion over this. The SAR Outdoor First Aid course has five unit standards:

• US6400, 6401, 6402 Workplace First Aid course
• US4573 Communicate in the outdoors using two-way radios
• US424 Respond to an emergency care situation for an outdoor situation

In order to attend the refresher course you have to have previously attained all five unit standards. Once you have all five standards then you can attend the one-day refresher course.

After recently attending a SAR First Aid course Margie said: "I can honestly say it was the best First Aid course I have attended. The multiple outdoor scenarios were a great opportunity to practise the skills needed in Search & Rescue. So I encourage you all to attend the full SAR Outdoor First Aid course at least once -- you won't regret it!"

If you have any questions about First Aid or any other courses please call the office or look online at www.sarinz.com. You can also email us: margie@sarinz.com or lynne@sarinz.com

Competition

On average how many days does it take to forget 75% of what you learn on a training course?

Answer this question correctly (the answer is in this edition of HeadsUp) and be in to win a copy of Bob Koester's Lost Person Behaviour book.

Send your answers to headsup@sarinz.com by 30th September.

Winners who correctly named three characteristics of lost hunters from the last edition were:

• Scott Weatherall
• Graham Pomeroy
• Lisa Morrison
• Melanie Heather
• Helen Styles

Well done. Your prize (Initial Response Search Guide - search wheel) has been sent to you.

Next edition ...

HeadsUp is a quarterly publication (April/August/December) designed for the SAR community. If you would like to receive a copy, submit news or notices email headsup@sarinz.com.