SAR Fundamentals/Ready Pack

Subject
What equipment a search and rescue worker should have ready to take to a search

Authors
Brett Wuth

Scope

 * SAR Fundamentals Manual: Ch.10 "Emergency Preparedness Kits - The SAR Ready Pack"
 * Basic SAR Skills Manual: Ch.5 "Outdoor/SAR Equipment"
 * Ready pack demo

Objectives
At the conclusion of this lesson the participants:
 * 1) will be able to ...

Time Plan
Total Time: 60 minutes
 * 2003-10-19 09:33-10:20: 0.8h
 * 2011-02: 09:25-10:22: 1.0h
 * 2013-02: 70 min

Introduce topic title

Introduce Instructor

Present Objectives

A ready pack is the equipment you take with you into the field.


 * support you in any circumstances possible to encounter

Some teams in an urban setting have less stringent expectations
 * could be 24 hours without contact (24-hr ready pack)
 * any type of weather could set in (or already be happening)

Pack is always ready
 * don't spend 45 minutes trying to gather your stuff after you've been called-out

keep your ready pack pristine

vs. use your ready pack regularly (recommended)
 * you know how to use your equipment
 * you cycle items that expire
 * use it for recreational, or for work, as your safety kit on vehicle trips

Distribute form for students to design their own ready pack.

The pack itself:

volume: 20 to 35L

packs without frames (bags)
 * cheap
 * light
 * very uncomfortable to carry any significant weight

external frames
 * old style
 * most new ones are junk
 * cheap
 * bulky
 * heavy
 * can carry significant weight

internal frames
 * modern style
 * metal slates inside back
 * can be bent to fit your back
 * light, but not as light as bags
 * can carry significant weight

frames distribute the weight
 * typically 70% on hips, 30% on shoulders
 * can change while hiking for comfort

adjustments
 * compression straps - compresses the load, attach items to exterior
 * front shoulder straps - height on back
 * hip straps - fit and weight on hips
 * top shoulder straps - distance and angle on back, weight on shoulders
 * sternum strap - angle and position on shoulders
 * side straps - sway of load

most important when buying a frame pack
 * go to a reputable store where they'll spend 20 minutes fitting a pack to your back
 * find the right size
 * test with real weight in the store
 * good place: Mountain Equipment Co-op

How to pack

Heaviest stuff low down
 * so it doesn't leverage you backwards

Heaviest stuff close to your back
 * so when you turn not a lot of weight to spin

Protect against drenching when falling/dropping in water
 * 1 large bag
 * or bags for everything that can get soaked/damaged

Advantage to using lots of bags:
 * bags tend to slip against each other rather than having contents tangled

Organize into sacks
 * quick to find the right sack, then right item from sack
 * compression stuff sacks - make things smaller

Mix of loose and tight sacks
 * all tight: creates voids of unused space
 * all loose: tangle

A few items clipped on the outside of the pack, in side pockets. What you don't want to put down pack to access.

have a student completely pull apart every item from an extensive ready pack (e.g. Brett's)

Discuss what item is for.

group discussion: What is the most unreasonable item in the pack? What is missing?

72-hour box


 * emerging practice in SAR

Kit to bring to search base in case you're asked to stay longer.
 * tent
 * change of clothes
 * extra food
 * store off-season items from ready pack

Aids

 * a complete ready pack (Brett's is an extreme example)
 * a 72-hr box
 * Pincher SAR's Ready Pack recommendations: page 2 of PCSAR DOC-113 New Member Package
 * list of equipment in Brett's Ready Pack
 * Marin County Search and Rescue 24 hour pack
 * Page 23 of Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue Training Manual
 * Marin County Search and Rescue 24 hour pack
 * Page 23 of Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue Training Manual

Frequently Asked Questions
Cost of a pack?

Why don't you carry a sleeping bag?

License
Copyright © 2012, Brett Wuth. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 Canada License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ca/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

Reference Material
[1]

Question bank
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