Abstract
Yosemite Search and Rescue Adopts GIS as Critical Search Tool
Track: Disaster Management and Emergency Response
Author(s): Paul Doherty, Dave Pope
Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) responds to more than 200 calls and also participates in several search operations annually. When people are reported missing, hasty-search teams often locate them within 24 hours. However, once incidents stretch beyond that period, additional ground, technical, canine, and air units are activated and incident complexity rapidly escalates. Land segments are assigned to appropriate personnel and when teams return to the command post they are debriefed and expected to convey how well their segments were searched. The Planning Sections then recalculate segment priority based on the probability of detection values during previous operational periods and likely missing person locations. The task of finding a missing person alive while minimizing risk to searchers poses a unique geospatial and data management challenge. This presentation will explain how YOSAR integrates GIS with search theory as a critical search management tool and reveal products of their recent Search-GIS exploration.
Paul Doherty
National Park Service
9000 Lost Arrow Drive
Yosemite Valley , California 95389
United States
Phone: 209-372-0216
E-mail: paul_doherty@nps.gov
Dave Pope
Yosemite Search and Rescue
9000 Lost Arrow Drive
Yosemite Valley , California 95289
United States
Phone: 209-372-0216
E-mail: dave_pope@nps.gov