Abstract

Improving Wilderness Search & Rescue Effectiveness with Geospatial Technologies
Track: Fire, Rescue, and EMS
Authors: Justine Blanford, Loren Pfau

In the recent past geospatial data sources available to wilderness SAR teams were limited, but now teams have access to an ever-increasing types and volumes of geospatial information that have the potential to improve the results of back-country search operations. These include information from well-understood sources such as e911 and emerging sources such as social media. The challenges facing SAR teams lie in understanding what information is available; how it may be accessed and managed; relative strengths and weaknesses; how it may be utilized in a time-sensitive situation; and how to use this information for post-event analysis, training and contributions to community knowledge.

This session will discuss new sources of geospatial information that may be encountered and used in the context of wilderness SAR missions, explain how the information may be accessed, and provide guidance on how to integrate these new information sources into mission management and training processes.