# Light Search and Rescue - In a disaster, focus on uncertainty to stimulate curiosity and keep your inherent fear at bay. - Regularly and repeatedly [[N2 NET Scene Size-Up 20240208|size up the scene]] to ensure you're acting in response to the actual (not perceived) demands of the situation. ### Search and Rescue Goals - Rescue greatest number of people in shortest amount of time - Get walking wounded out first - Rescue lightly trapped survivors first - Keep rescuers and survivors safe ### Size-Up Zones | Zone | Meaning | | ---- | ---- | | Hot | Evacuation only! | | Warm | Safe for essential operations | | Cool | Safe for medical treatment and command | | Cold | No operations needed or pending | ### Building Search Markings Before searching a building, *always knock to ascertain if anyone is there*. We are not going to break and enter unless we can identify someone in distress! - Mark the building in a location clearly visible from the street with a large slash from top left to bottom right - Add time and date of entry to top middle - Add team ID and number of members to left - Complete X (from top right to bottom left) after *all* team members have exited - Add areas searched to right - Add survivors/deceased discovered to bottom, along with location where wounded may have been transported, coded R/Y/B according to [[X1 START Triage 20240127|START Triage]] ### Search Methodology - Ask people to come to you if they can hear you - Ask survivors for more information (be advised they may be disoriented) - Search in pairs, moving no more than arm's length apart - Scan all six directions, including nooks, crannies, and closets - **Keep records!** Include times and locations, and write things down sequentially. - Don't search "voids"—collapsed spaces—but *do* report them - Stop and listen frequently for tapping, movement, voices, whistling, and building sounds ### Safety Considerations - Use the buddy system and rotate teams - Check your equipment regularly - Know your exits - Use code words and/or whistle cues to prevent alarming the survivors - Remember survivor etiquette! These are people, in need, and often in shock. - Remember that the greatest causes of rescuer death are disorientation and secondary collapse - Know your capacity and limitations, follow safety procedures, and stay within your assigned role(s) ### Rescue 1. Survey the area 2. Triage the wounded to identify who needs what care 3. Move debris impeding rescue 4. Extract survivors 5. Secure trapped survivors 6. Extricate trapped survivors 1. Size-up the situation 1. Is it within scope for you to assist? 2. Is the scene [[#Size-Up Zones|safe for search and rescue]]? 3. Are the right roles present? 4. Are the right tools and materials available? 5. If yes to all, proceed with the rescue 2. Secure the scene 1. Assess and attend to the survivor(s) 2. Clear and prepare the area 3. Protect the survivor(s) from further injury 3. Release the survivor from entrapment 1. Lift the mass (no more than 1" at a time) 2. Fill the gaps with [[N2 cribbing 20240125|cribbing]] 4. Remove them from debris and transport them #### Types of Removal (in order of preference) - Self-removal (they walk out on their own) - Assisted removal (they're supported by a search and rescuer) - Lifts and carries - Using blankets, Mega Mover, backboard, chair, and/or SKED - Drags - Using backboard and blanket --- - [[N2.21 Portland NET Basic Training Index 20240120|Portland NET Basic Training]]