Search and Rescue (SAR) by Suzanne Kynast

1. Pre-Departure Information Session: Talk BEFORE heading out on the water to decide with the group what procedures will be followed in case of an emergency. Decide on a point of rendezvous, whether or not to hold your position by heading your kayak into the wind, use of whistles (3 or 5 blasts).

2. Initial Rapid Response (Hasty Search):
-Record your position and time.
-Make noise (shout, whistle, etc.) to try to attract your lost group member’s attention.
-Retrace your steps about 100 yards (for example, go back around the headland) to see if the person is just on the other side.
-Ask preliminary questions of your group (2 most important questions: Point Last Seen (PLS) and Thing Last Said (TLS)). Be HONEST with yourself about the last time that you saw your client.
-Record all the information that you can gather from the group. Ask 100 questions of the group such as: What was the state of the person? Where did he want to go?

3. Stabilize Your Group: Make sure your group is secure with an activity such as setting up camp. DO NOT involve members of your group in the Search and Rescue.

4. Following Hasty Search: Ask yourself: What can you do to help your victim? What is now possible for the survival of the client?
            -Notify the authorities (Coast Guard)= PAN, PAN, PAN on Channel 16
            -Identify your position, time, and explain your situation
            -Give all relevant information to the Coast Guard: current, wind, PLS and TLS
            -Follow the Coast Guard instructions for the continued search
-Record data of the TIME and PLACE every 10 minutes for a continuing search by the authorities. If you have a GPS, mark wayward points every 10 minutes.

5. Establish a Subjective search and a Theoretical search: Assuming the Coast Guard wants you to continue your search, plot a map of the PLS and create a vector using wind and current directions. Don’t stop searching until someone tells you to stop.