SAR Technology - Introduction
- International Edition

Introduction

Introduction
'Incident Commander Pro' program is designed as a tool to help the Incident Commander improve the organization and effectiveness of their search, rescue and emergency-response missions. The program is designed to blend the organizational structure of the Incident Command System (ICS) with the latest developments in the science of search and emergency-response theory. Extensive databases of missing person behavior and probability of detection (POD) tables provide a field-based foundation for planning scenarios, while a set of logistic calculators input probability of area, probability of detection, time, area and manpower data directly into the ICS planning forms.

Mission Initiation
To permit a mission to be rapidly initiated the program has been designed to function initially with a minimum set of essential information, entered into a small number of ICS forms (see the Quickstart Wizard). The ICS forms are mission-specific and cannot be opened until a new mission is created or an existing mission opened. This mission-specific information includes the completion, where appropriate, of a Missing Person Questionnaire, the Check-In of personnel, assignment of management roles in the Organizational Chart, preparation of an Incident Briefing form and the preparation of of mission Assignment Forms, which become automatically listed in the Operations Plan. This essential information permits checked-in personnel to be allocated to the listed assignments, which then appear as active assignment Call-Signs listed on the Communications Log screen. The Communications Log can then be used to document communications received between these active Call Signs. 

Operational Periods 
Once the mission has been initiated the program records all aspects of the mission within time-stamped Operational Periods, which are defined as either Active or Closed. The information within any Operational Period can be easily browsed at any time, however only the' Active' Operational Period willl allow new assignments to be created or new Communications Log entries to be recorded.

Pre-Plan User Data 
The User Data is typically not mission-specific. The Personnel Table, Organizations Table, Default Communications Plan, commonly examined Default Routes and the Default Areas information can all be entered at any time, without opening a mission. Entering this User Data before a mission occurs is strongly recommended, as it will significantly reduce the start-up time required to initiate the mission. Once a mission is opened Mission Routes and Mission Areas lists have to be prepared before they can be selected within the Assignment Forms. However previously-stored Default Routes and Default Areas can be automatically allocated to the Mission Areas and Mission Routes lists.

Check-In Personnel
As responders and support staff arrive on-site they are Checked-In and become part of the active pool of on-site personnel. These personnel are registered on-site in the Check-In form and can then be assigned to various operations or support duties directly from the Assignment Form.

Assignment Forms 
All the mission's assignments are prepared by entering their details in the Assignment Forms. POA and POD values, mission areas, route length, time and manpower requirements, etc., may either be entered directly, or will be automatically copied into the appropriate fields, depending on the selected assignment type. As each assignment form is prepared the Operations Plan automatically lists and prioritizes these assignments.

Communications Log
During each operational period the Communications Log is used to document all communications received from the active assignments, as well as from any direct-voice or document information received. Call Signs created in both the mission's Communications Plan and the Assignment Forms will be automatically displayed within the Communications Log.

The Communications Log is also used to log any Clues or Decision Points found by the personnel during their assignments. If a team reports Decision Points (DP's) along a route their team-estimated relative POA value for each Decision Point are entered into the Route Decision Points table, linked to the Communications Log. The Incident Commander can then use the Route-based POA Calculator to assign these Decision Points to any of the pre-defined areas adjacent to the route. Once these Decision Points have been assigned to the defined mission areas Route-based Probability of Areas will be automatically calculated.

Operations Plan 
The Operations Plan automatically displays all the assignments created within the current operational period. The Operations Plan automatically prioritizes all the listed Mission Route and Mission Area assignments. Through the linked Assignment Form page, a number of data tables and calculators are either automatically or manually invoked whenever logistic data, such as POA, POD, mission area, task-time and manpower requirements are needed to complete each assignment's planning details.

Copyright 2016, SAR Technology Inc.

For more information on please contact:

SAR Technology Inc.
5268 Sprucefeild Road, West Vancouver
B.C., Canada V7W 2X6
Phone: (604) 921-2488    Fax (604) 921-2484      sartechnology@telus.net
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