SAR Technology: 'Incident Commander' Software

Sherbrooke Police SAR Team Reach New Heights using 'Incident Commander Pro' Software

Rescuers Reach New Heights
By Pierre Saint-Jacob
La Tribune
Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Few citizens know that the Sherbrooke Police has a SAR team which is the envy of many police forces across North America.

The Sherbrooke Police (SPS) SAR Team of five police officers, assisted by members of the Emergency Response Team, has over the years developed methods and strategies for searching that have been recognized by the National Search & Rescue Secretariat, in Ottawa, Canada.

The criteria and techniques used by the team in Canada are very similar to those used across the United States and even in Europe. The team members are trained according to techniques that are conducted in the same manner whether they are in Texas, Vancouver or the European forests.

The fledgling group of what has now developed into a sophisticated SAR team, was initially comprised of five police officers from Rock Forest, Quebec who, after a tragic incident 10 years ago, decided to form a SAR team able to respond at very short notice.

Among these police officers are Sergeant Yvon Charpentier, who has broad field experience, and André Lemire, who helped organize the team and acquired cartography skills while training in the armed Forces.

During the integration of the Rock Forest Municipal Safety Program with the Sherbrooke Police SAR Team, the team brought their 'toolkit' of experience with them. The SPS SAR Team has taught many police officers and firemen from around the towns of Sherbrooke, Bromptonville, Deauville and Lennoxville. This 'toolkit of experience' increases and continues to improve over time.

The SPS SAR Team can count on 75 people trained with specialized SAR skills and can also count on additional help from members of the Sherbrooke Armed Forces Reserve. Each year there is a re-certification program to ensure that the team members remain familiar the concepts of search and rescue, while also learning of the latest developments in this field.

Searching in the Urban Environment
According to whether one is searching in urban environment or in a wilderness forest, the search techniques may vary but the strategies will remain the same. The SPS SAR Team has just acquired the unique 'Incident Commander' software, which makes it possible to develop mathematical predictions regarding missing person behavior.

"If we are informed that a child of a certain age, weight, and size disappeared around, say, 1300hrs our calculations can be confirmed by the software, which makes it possible to determine that the child travelled 800 meters in one hour, 1,6 kilometer in two hours and so on. If the child has been missing for one hour then we can conduct a door-to-door search on foot, distributing flyers and searching stores and shopping centres within in a radius of 800 meters. If the distance is much larger then vehicles will patrol the perimeter and move inwards from this radius towards the Point Last Seen", explains the police officer André Lemire. The 'Incident Commander' software calculations make it possible to validate the decisions taken, and to help confirm the detailed planning of the search management team.

There are approximately ten disappearances annually within the urban environment region patrolled by the SPS SAR Team. Typically these missing people are found within about three hours. More often than not these are either children or people suffering from the Alzheimer's disease.

Searching in the Forest
"For a person missing in a forest, one would take the most information available on the person, their physical condition and the equipment they would have taken with them. Then one would try to establish the distance travelled. If there is a lake in the sector, it would be dredged, If there is a campsite, it would be visited." The calculations would then be analysed by the 'Incident Commander' software, to obtain confirmation on whether the selected search plan would be effective.

For searching in forest, one may also decide to perform a 'corridor' gridsearch.

The Lemire police officer explains that the initial search is typically carried out using an open-grid 'Sound Sweep': over a one-kilometer width four police officers advance and then stop every minute, blast their whistles, listen for a possible response from the missing person, and then repeat the process.

"During this time, we may also prepare for a close-grid search. The search 'corridors' are typically 30 meters wide, inside which walk ten police officers. Each corridor is traversed in the two directions, at right angles to each other. In this way the entire defined area will be searched."

Night Searching
Last year, in Laval, the SPS SAR team received training from Vancouver-based night-search specialists.

"The decision to perform a night search will be dictated by the urgency of the situation: If a six year-old child is missing in heavy forest, after nightfall, with temperatures hovering around 3 degrees Celsius with light rain, then it is necessary to act."

Within some limitations, using night vision goggles the team one may develop a plan to search at night almost as if it was daylight. One group searches using night vision goggles while another searches using flashlights.

As statistics show that the majority of people stray off travelled paths the searchers may install a trip-wire across a path, which is connected to switch on a flashlight. When the cord breaks, by someone walking into it, the light makes it possible for the lost person to find shelter, water and food placed at this location, along with a message that help will come within an hour or so. The illumination will last for about 60 minutes. When the searchers return, if they see that the tripwire has been broken by an animal, they will reset the mechanism.

If the territory is too large to be searched on foot the search team will perform a vehicle-based patrol, occasionally sounding their sirens to alert and direct the missing person.

The SPS SAR Team will also assist the Criminal Investigations Division and the Criminal Service's office at a crime scene, to help conduct an evidence search. They will often wait until nightfall to use ultraviolet lamps in order to more easily detect small clues, such as bone fragments.

It is easy to understood why, with real pride, that the SPS SAR Team is unique in Quebec in having reached this very high skill level.

SAR Technology Inc.
Phone: (604) 921-2488    Fax (604) 921-2484      sartechnology@telus.net

SAR Technology Home