LS10.14 BASIC SEARCH PLANNING

Section: LS10 SAR Operations

Date: 20th September 2016

Purpose

Page: 1 of 2

To provide guidelines on the process of basic search planning.

Policy

Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) provides the following guidelines for personnel to adhere to regarding basic search planning.

Procedure

A search plan is required for every mission. It may be a very abbreviated plan for a single search unit, or it may be a complex plan involving a large number of units. In any case, a search plan should always be developed by the Incident Controller/Commander (IC), as many lives may depend upon the care with which the search is planned and conducted.

When a search mission is required, four factors are of immediate importance to the search unit for conducting their search:

1. An adequate description of the search target;

2. The search area, including weather conditions and any possible risks or dangers;

3. The best search pattern; and

4. The appropriate track spacing.

The IC will most likely provide much more detailed information to the first search unit to be dispatched to the search area, but the above four items comprise a minimum. The IC develops the original or optimum search plan on the assumption that sufficient and suitable search units will be available for conducting the operation. Once the optimum plan is developed, the IC must make every effort to obtain the services of the search units he needs.

Additional search planning involves:

1. Evaluating the situation, including the results of any previous searching.

2. Estimating the distress incident location and probable error of that location.

3. Estimating the survivors’ post-distress movements and probable error of that estimate.

4. Using these results to estimate the most probable location (datum) of survivors and the uncertainty (probable error of position) about that location.

5. Determining the best way to use the available search assets so the chances of finding the survivors are maximized (optimal search effort allocation).

6. Defining search sub-areas and search patterns for assignment to specific search assets.

7. Providing a search plan that includes a current description of the situation, search object description(s), specific search responsibilities to search facilities, on-scene coordination instructions and search asset reporting requirements.

Controlling Factors

When developing a search plan, the IC must carefully weigh the limitations of time, terrain, weather, navigational aids, search target detect ability, suitability of available search units, search area size, distance between search area and SAR unit staging bases, and the particular probability of detection (POD) desired under the circumstances.