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* NASAR Partners with Garmin to Offer Members
Deep Discounts
* Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Online
* 2003 Edition of the Health Library for Disasters
* Web-Based Games on Disaster
* National Mutual Aid System
* 2004 Colorado SAR Conference Is Looking for Speakers
* Wyoming SAR Public Service Announcements
* The Use of Volunteers at Searches
* National Emergency Training Center Virtual Campus
* Mountain Bike SAR
* SARSCENE Articles
* First Annual Rigg Swiftwater Challenge
* NASAR Reaches Hawaii
* E-GADS Released at SARSCENE
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Online version at www.SARNEWS.com 11/6/03
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NASAR Partners with Garmin to Offer Members Deep Discounts
NASAR announced a new arrangement with Garmin to distribute its entire
line of consumer GPS products and a handful of its aviation products to
the SAR community at deeply discounted prices.
The pricing schedule looks like this:
Products with a Garmin-established Minimum Advertised Price (MAP):
NASAR Voting Members - 15% off MAP
NASAR Non-voting Members - MAP
Non NASAR Members - Retail
Products with no MAP:
NASAR Voting Members - 10% over cost
NASAR Non-voting Members - 10% off Retail
Non NASAR Members - Retail
Please note that if you are visiting the NASAR/Garmin Online Store and,
at first glance, see the retail prices appearing, that's because we are
prohibited from "advertising" the deep discounts even though we can
offer them as a service to our members. Consequently, you have to
actually log-in and place an item in your shopping cart before you will
see the discounted price. And don't worry, placing an item in your
shopping cart does not obligate you to purchase it.
TO JOIN NASAR ONLINE:
http://www.nasar.org/general/membershipnew.php
TO SHOP THE NASAR GARMIN ONLINE STORE:
http://www.nasar.org/garmin/default.php
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Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Online
The Berkeley Electronic Press announces the launch of the "Journal of
Homeland Security and Emergency Management (JHSEM)". The journal is
intended to make an innovative contribution to the current critical
national effort to promote homeland security by providing an
accessible, responsive medium for the publication of research,
exchange of ideas, and discussion of current issues and events by
knowledgeable researchers and practitioners. A full description of the
journal, along with the inaugural issue and submission guidelines, can
be found at
http://www.bepress.com/jhsem.
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2003 Edition of the Health Library for Disasters
The 2003 Edition of the Health Library for Disasters, an online
collection of information resources on public health in disasters and
complex emergencies, has just been released by the World Health
Organization and the Pan American Health Organization. The library is
fully searchable with a variety of key terms.
http://www.disaster-info.net/newsletter/92/helid.htm
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Web-Based Games on Disaster for Kids
The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) has unveiled an interactive web-based board game for
children, as part of its commitment to educating young people about
disaster preparedness and risk reduction. The board game is called
Disaster Discovery. Must admit, we had some fun playing the game myself.
http://www.fema.gov/kids/games/board
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National Mutual Aid System
FEMA came one step closer to establishing a national mutual aid system after
six states (Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts, Montana, and New
Hampshire) and the District of Columbia recently completed a pilot test of a
new resource inventory system. The new system of cataloging resources into a
single repository will make it easier for states to review and order the
resources they need when responding to a disaster since everyone will be
using standard terminology. FEMA staff members are analyzing results of the
pilot test, will make any necessary changes, and then make the system
available to all 50 states. Eventually, the inventory will be automated,
making it easy for emergency managers to determine the location of resources
they may need. It remains to be seen how or if SAR teams will be included.
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/novo03/novo03c.html#mutual
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2004 Colorado SAR Conference Is Looking for Speakers
The 2004 Colorado Search and Rescue Conference will be held Friday, May 14,
2003 through Sunday, May 16, 2003 near Monument, Colorado. We would like to
invite exemplary local, regional and national educators to submit proposals
for
presentations at this conference.
The conference audience includes SAR team members, SAR managers,
administrators, sheriff's officers, and allied professionals involved in
Emergency Services. Conference attendees typically expect the following
subjects:
* Technical Rescue
* Medical
* Search
* SAR Management
* Computer Tools
* General SAR Topics
For more information and the Call for Presenters application form kindly
go
to:
http://www.coloradosarboard.org/csrb-sarcon.asp
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Wyoming SAR Public Service Announcements
The Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, which supports search and rescue
efforts in the state, has developed several Public Service Announcements
(PSAs). The announcements are available for download off the website as
MP3 files.
http://wyohomelandsecurity.state.wy.us/psas.htm
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The Use of Volunteers at Searches
If and how to use non-SAR-trained Volunteers at searches is always a hot
and controversial topic for all regions. Strongly different viewpoints
exist throughout the world. Each search's environment and risk factors
appear to have a lot to do with a team's or locality's final decision.
The State of Florida has developed a document that does an excellent job
of addressing some of these issues. It is written from the perspective
of general disasters, but may give some insight for what may happen on
searches.
http://www.tallytown.com/redcross/library/UnaffiliatedVolunteersInResponseAndRecovery.pdf
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National Emergency Training Center Virtual Campus
Thirsty for even more knowledge? The National Emergency Training Center
offers several virtual training courses that are free and available on the
web. Current topics include Animals in Disaster, Module A: Awareness and
Preparedness, Community Safety Educators (self-study), Emergency Response to
Terrorism (self-study), Fire Service Supervision (self-study), Household
Hazardous Materials - A Guide for Citizens, Incident Command System -
Tutorial (real player required!), and the National Fire Incident Reporting
System (on-line exam only).
http://lstrng1.fema.gov/LearningSpace5/Program/UI/Main/Themes/Kendall/Main.asp
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Mountain Bike SAR
In the latest SARSCENE magazine was an excellent article on the use of
mountain bikes in Search and Rescue. The article examines the development
and use of mountain bikes in Calgary. However, if this is a topic you are
interested in, several other sites offer information.
http://www.nss.gc.ca/site/SARScene/magazine/vol13_2/feature_e.asp
http://www.trailpatrol.org/rescue.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/bikesar/
http://www.vcsar.org/ Click on SAR units
then Mountain Bikes
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SARSCENE Articles
In addition to an article on mountain bikes in SAR, SARSCENE has several
other articles that will interest SAR readers. Topics include a book
review of "Tracking for Search and Rescue", adapting GIS for GSAR, Hunter
profile, projects funded by the New Search and Rescue Initiatives Fund,
an article on newer SAR satellites, and more. The colorful magazine can
be viewed as a PDF or as html.
http://www.nss.gc.ca/site/SARScene/magazine/vol13_2/index_e.asp
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First Annual Rigg Swiftwater Challenge
On October 2-3, 2003, the premiere Rigg Swiftwater Challenge provided
three elite California swiftwater rescue teams with an opportunity to test
their skills in the first athletic competition based upon technical rescue
techniques used when performing swiftwater and flood rescue operations.
http://www.nasar.org/?s=news&id=95&c=8
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NASAR Reaches Hawaii
ALOHA! NASAR has made it to the Pacific. In September, NASAR successfully
completed the first FUNSAR class and SARTECH II certification in our 50th
state.
During the weekends of September 5-7 and 12-14, Ken and Kris Lesperance
taught the Fundamentals of Search and Rescue (FUNSAR) class to members of
the Hawaii State Civil Defense SAR Dog Group. The class consisted of
civilian volunteers and one Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural
Resources Resource Conservation Officer.
The class was conducted at the Marine Corps Training Area at Bellows Air
Force Station on the island of Oahu. The weekend overnight SAR mission and
bivouac were held up the windward coast at Kualoa Ranch, the filming
location for Jurassic Park. The students not only learned a tremendous
amount, but they have the bragging rights of taking FUNSAR in Jurassic Park.
The term "dinoSAR" was coined and patches may be forthcoming.
Mainlanders are welcome to take NASAR classes and certifications in Hawaii.
Some of the costs may be tax deductible, so consult with your tax
professional or IRS office. Look for the course offerings on the NASAR
website or contact Ken Lesperance or Kris Lesperance for details and a
tentative schedule.
http://www.nasar.org/?s=news&id=92&c=8
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E-GADS Released at SARSCENE
E-GADS! (Electronic Ground Search and Rescue Administrative Database
System) is an Open Source web-based database that enables ground search
and rescue teams to track membership, certifications, search reports,
events and training records. It is fully bilingual (English/French, at
the moment) and is currently based on Canadian geographic data and NSS
(National Search and Rescue Secretariat) categorization codes. It is
expected that the software will be adapted for other areas in the future.
In the spirit of volunteerism that characterizes ground SAR in many
jurisdictions, this software is being released under the GNU General
Public License. The software is freely distributable and may be modified
under the terms of the license.
The software is currently in use in the province of New Brunswick, Canada,
by the New Brunswick Ground Search and Rescue Association as well as
police and government. This implementation contains data on the province's
approximately 500 volunteer searchers and more than 100 searches within
the past three years. Discussions are presently underway for a national
roll out and a formal announcement will be forthcoming.
The software was officially launched at SARSCENE 2003 conference.
E-GADS! is available through SourceForge at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/e-gads/
info about the project at
http://142.166.118.68/sto_demo/sto_about.html
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