Land SAR - OSRT Personnel Complete Advanced Search and Rescue Training

Multiple members of the Ohio Special Response Search & Rescue Team recently completed the Basic Inland SAR Course (BISC) hosted by the Tyler County (WV) Office of Emergency Management in Paden City, WV.

The 2-day training is a compressed version of the 5-day Land Search program and was conducted

by personnel from the United States Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC), which is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base. Tyndall AFB is located a few miles southeast of Panama City, Florida. The lead trainer was Jamiel (“Doc”) Vadell, PhD, who serves as the Operations Manager for the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Assisting Dr. Vadell in the two day training session was USAF Tech Sergeant (E-6) Brian Kearns. There were sixteen attendees at the training representing West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. OSRT members attending included Capt. Bill Menker, Capt. Cletus Payne, and Lance Lanier.

Some basic takeaways were: a missing person or persons is a law enforcement event, but law enforcement can almost always use additional qualified help, especially if a large area is to be searched; search and rescue personnel are often thought of as volunteers, but they are volunteers that are trained to a professional level; searches are complex, yet they must be performed quickly and with precision; those involved in search and rescue operations are encouraged to think outside the box using such techniques as reflex tasking and Lost Person Behavior; and, finally, the job as a SAR operator is to save lives while racing against time.