Foundations: What is Search and Rescue?

The world of Search and Rescue (SAR) is often intertwined with wilderness medicine. In our wilderness medicine courses, we talk about SAR teams as a resource for evacuating a patient, so it’s important to understand the principles of SAR operations so we can communicate with and utilize them effectively should we need their assistance. As a trip leader and wilderness medicine provider, you also may find yourself in charge of an impromptu search or rescue for a lost student, client, or even someone from a less experienced group, in which case it can be very helpful to have an operational framework to reference as the scenario unfolds. In this three-part series, we’ll discuss the parts of a SAR response in the first article, “Foundations: What is Search and Rescue?” to provide a framework for executing any type of search and rescue, big or small. In the second article, “Applying concepts: A real-life example of a SAR incident in the Narrows,” we’ll go on a deep dive into a real story from my time working on an ambulance and SAR team in Zion National Park, where you’ll be able to apply the framework from article one to gain a better understanding of how and why the incident unfolded the way it did. Finally, the third article, “Lessons learned: Reflecting on the Narrows incident,” will debrief the story from article two, demonstrating the importance of debriefing incidents to find ways to continually improve search and rescue responses. By the end of the series, you’ll hopefully come away with an understanding of search and rescue processes and how they can be applied across a spectrum of situations, and how you as a wilderness medicine provider might fit into the SAR picture, whether you’re on a SAR team, requesting help from SAR while caring for a patient, or finding yourself leading an impromptu SAR mission.

Many years ago, I remember participating on a spring break backpacking trip with my college outdoor program. I was a first-year student and couldn’t get enough of these types of trips – I really wanted to be a trip leader and went on as many outings as I could cram into my busy college schedule. This particular trip was a five-day backpack through desert canyons outside of Hanksville, Utah. On the first day, as we packed up and prepared for the trip, the leaders reviewed some key safety policies – basic hygiene, traveling as a group, the planned route, and what to do if you become lost. That last point, which we discussed at the outset of every trip I had been on with the outdoor program, always struck me as a little funny, because weren’t we going to stick together the whole time? And weren’t we going to be on a pretty obvious trail, or walking through a confining desert canyon with no other paths? How could we become lost? The chances seemed infinitesimally slim, but nonetheless, I noted that the leaders advised that a lost person should stay put and make themselves obvious to help the group locate them. But the thoughts of getting lost soon drifted from my brain as we strode into a wash that afternoon, replaced by sunshine, red rocks, and a thin layer of desert sand crusting everything I owned.

A few days into the trip, we stopped at a pothole holding good, clear water, so we dropped our packs, filled bottles, snacked and basked in the spring sunshine like lizards. After 20 minutes or so, the leaders urged us to get going again so we could make it to camp in the daylight. We were slow to leave our sunny watering hole, peeling ourselves off the warm sandstone sunbathing beds and putting on our crunchy desert shoes. As we waddled away under the weight of our packs, someone asked at the back of the line, “Where’s Amy?” Heads snapped up and eyeballs scanned. Where was Amy? And when had I last seen her? I suddenly took note of the twisting, rocky desert terrain and realized the canyon had split just behind us, where another fork joined. I wracked my brain…I know I saw Amy while we filled water, but did I notice her packing up? Had she slipped off to check something out or go pee around the corner? Amy was, at that moment, lost.

The leaders quickly reacted to the erupting confusion and concern. They interviewed the group and determined that Amy had been with us at the watering hole, and that she must have gotten separated just as we were packing up and heading out, only about five minutes ago. No one had seen which direction she had gone, but the canyon walls were pretty steep, so she likely was somewhere nearby in the canyon or the other fork. They split us up into three groups - one would stay put to scan around the immediate area and make sure Amy didn’t accidentally pass us heading down the main canyon farther; one would go back to the watering hole and scan around there; the third would check out the other fork where it joined the main canyon. We would take no more than 15 minutes on this initial search before meeting back at the starting point – if we hadn’t found her by then, we’d need to come up with another plan and alert more resources.

I was struck by how suddenly these events unfolded. In the course of just a few minutes, we went from an intact group to searching for a lost member. So THIS is how people get lost! Only a few minutes into our search plan, however, the two groups that searched up-canyon returned successful, Amy walking along with them. She’d gone off to change into shorts around the corner from the watering hole, got caught up checking out some cool rocks, and was surprised to see that the group had left upon return. The search teams found Amy at the confluence of the alternate fork and the main canyon, considering which way the group would have gone. After some collective sighs of relief, nervous giggles (“That could’ve been way worse!”), and a debrief of the situation from the leaders, our group, intact once again, happily carried on towards camp. For the rest of the trip, we stuck together like glue.

This experience on the desert backpacking trip was a small, impromptu SAR incident — it took only a handful of minutes, and required no more resources than what our group already had, namely people, to be successful. But the process of the incident unfolded like any SAR incident would. The trip leaders functioned as the de facto incident command team (in formal settings, there is usually a single Incident Commander, or IC, assisted by a variety of section leaders such as Safety, Operations, Logistics, etc). Whether they knew it at the time or not, the leaders organized our response along the lines of a common SAR framework, referred to as P-LAST: Plan, Locate, Access, Stabilize, Transport. Each of these represents a distinct phase of a SAR incident, and when executed in order, results in an organized and efficient approach to finding and assisting a subject. 

The trip leaders’ first step was to make a Plan. This was composed of pulling together information, like where and when the lost person was last seen. If we hadn’t already spent days together, they might have also needed to gain more insight into Amy’s personality and psyche: Does she typically like to explore on her own? What are her interests? Has she done this before? How has she been feeling today? What are her skills and what resources does she have with her? Additionally, they needed to come up with a strategy for searching within the highest probability areas with the resources available, and quickly, to increase the chances of success before Amy had time to get even farther away from the group. Part of this strategy included identifying natural guardrails and funnels - in this case the canyon walls - that might hem the subject in. In other settings, natural features that can act as guardrails include large bodies of water, rivers, and cliffs. Terrain features that act as funnels are easy to travel along, like trails, roads, canyons, and ridgelines.

Once the plan was made, the search, or Locate, phase began. Our small groups, which were functioning like hasty teams (small, self-sufficient teams that can quickly search high-probability areas), began searching in assigned zones based on where Amy was mostly likely to be found – near the point last seen (PLS) and at the potentially confusing junction where the canyon forked. The trip leaders thoughtfully left one group in place, stationed where we realized Amy was missing, to make sure she didn’t accidentally leave the search area; in SAR terminology, this is referred to as containment. Other tools that SAR teams use to locate subjects include tracking dogs, aircraft, GPS data, and even fine-toothed grid searching on foot. Luckily, our search teams were quickly successful. In any search, there is always some urgency in locating the subject quickly, because the less time they have to move away from the point last seen, the more easily they will be found. Amy had mere minutes to get separated, which meant the search area was small and likelihood was high that we’d find her. If she’d had hours, the search area would have expanded considerably. This is why it is usually easier to find a lost person if they stay put, and why our trip leaders encouraged us to do so while making our location as obvious as possible (you could shout or blow a whistle, use visual cues like smoke, bright colors, or reflectors, etc.) should we become lost during the trip.

After the subject is located, they must be Accessed. In Amy’s case, there were no barriers to access – she was just standing in the canyon junction, and the searchers walked right up. But what if Amy had explored a little farther afield, and scrambled up a short but steep rock band and couldn’t figure out how to down climb it? Then we would have had a high angle rock access problem, and we might have needed to spot someone to climb up to Amy, or find an alternate route to reach her. Access problems usually intensify with water, snow, ice, rock or steep terrain. For example, rescuers may have to rappel down or climb up rock walls, ski down a snowy slope or avalanche debris, or navigate glaciers and crevasses. The Access phase may also involve rescuing the subject from immediate hazards, such as pulling someone to shore from swift water or removing them from unstable terrain like avalanches or rock slides.

In a SAR incident where the subject is injured or sick, the next phase would be to Stabilize them by providing medical care and readying them for Transport. On the desert backpacking trip, there was no need for stabilization, because Amy was perfectly healthy, just a little lost. In other cases, the stabilization phase may involve treating immediate life threats, doing patient assessments, filling out a SOAP note, and devising a treatment and transport plan. Amy also didn’t need any transport assistance, so the transport phase of our mini-SAR was merely the process of walking her back to the designated meeting point, where we joyfully concluded the incident and carried on with our backpacking trip. If someone can’t transport themselves and needs to be evacuated (as is common for sick and injured patients), then the SAR team creates a transport plan based on the terrain and patient condition. This could include using vehicles like helicopters, UTVs, or boats to evacuate the subject. Or it could mean carrying them out in a litter (sturdy, human-shaped wire basket) on foot, hoisting them up or down steep terrain, or assisting them in other ways. Many SAR teams have specialized tools and equipment for dealing with transporting subjects in their unique service areas, and they spend a lot of time training on how to manage complex transports in their most challenging terrain.

A SAR incident is only complete once the incident has been debriefed and all of the teams and gear required are returned and restored to their prepared state (rested, cleaned, organized, re-stocked, and ready to deploy). On our backpacking trip, the resources required were so minimal (just us humans looking for Amy for a couple minutes) that our group was ready to carry on with the trip after re-grouping at our designated meetup spot. The leaders debriefed the incident and reiterated the importance of letting people know when and where we’re going if we leave the group, and to remain stationary if we realize we’re lost. With that, we slung our heavy packs back on, and waddled down the canyon towards camp. That evening, under clear starry skies and gathered around a glowing headlamp-nalgene lantern, we reflected on our feelings from the day and what we learned. For my part, I thought about my new understanding of just how easy it can be to become lost, despite my disbelief at the beginning of the trip. I also marveled at the calmness of the leaders as they led us through the situation with Amy earlier in the day, and wondered if I’d have the skills to someday manage a group under stress so tactfully. I had no idea then that I’d go on to work professionally as a ski patroller, SAR team member, outdoor leader, and wilderness medicine instructor, and that this early experience would one day become a simple illustration of the phases of a search and rescue response.

From this story, we can see how even the simplest incidents can follow the P-LAST framework, though some of the phases may be quite abbreviated in the absence of technical terrain or a sick or injured patient. Regardless of scale, following the stages of P-LAST helps organize resources and streamline a SAR response. To explore this process further, we’ll be going on a deep dive with the story of a professional SAR incident in the Narrows of Zion National Park in our next article, “Applying concepts: a real-life example of a SAR incident in the Narrows”. As you read this next story, you’ll now be able to identify the different parts of the SAR process, and perhaps reflect on what you might do if you were part of a SAR response. It’s an exciting story, involving an unreliable point last seen, navigating challenging terrain at night, a helicopter in a tight spot, and more. Stay tuned!
If you have insight to share from your own experiences working with a SAR team, leave us a comment, we’d love to hear from you!
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About the author: Zoey is a licensed provider for WMTC and owner of Headwind Backcountry Medicine, LLC. She’s spent many seasons exploring outdoor education, recreation, and wilderness medicine from a variety of angles, and she’s excited to share pieces of her experiences here with you. Thanks for reading!