Mountain Canine Corps

MC²

Search and Rescue Team

Useful GPS skills for SAR

Mountain Canine Corps (MCC) team members often use GPS to aid in their search and rescue (SAR) efforts; the GPS is a great instrument in the toolset of SAR volunteers. Below is a list of GPS skills that have been used by MCC team members on real SAR missions, along with some examples of how these skills have been used.

Of course, many of the manipulations below done on the GPS can also be done using other resources. For example, determining the direct distance between two different UTM coordinates can be done in your head; when either the north-south or east-west coordinates between the two points is similar, this calculation can be done rather easily. When both coordinates are different (and the time is 4 AM), the distance calculations get more difficult to do manually without consulting a map.

Other manipulations, such as changing a point from the UTM to latitude-longitude coordinate format, are almost impossible to do in the field without a GPS unless you have maps available in both coordinate systems. So, although learning to use a GPS will take a short amount of time, having good GPS skills will serve you well in the field as it is a quick, convenient method of navigating, storing locations and your path, and translating between different coordinate datums and formats.

Of course, GPS is also useful for training and mission readiness evaluations, outside of real misions. You can, for example, use GPS tracks to compare the GPS track of a tracklayer and a tracking/trailing team or examine the coverage of an area completed by an airscent dog team.

Caution: Some weather conditions and/or heavy vegetation can cause difficulty in receiving a GPS signal and you should always maintain awareness of your location. Also, most GPS units use batteries relatively quickly and you should carry plenty of spare batteries.

GPS skill	Example of skill use on mission
Obtain current coordinates	Incident base asks you for your current position.
Change datum	You arrive at base and discover that the Sandia Crest area map is based on the WGS 84 (World Geodetic System of 1984) datum, instead of NAD 27 (North American Datum of 1927) , which is commonly used in maps in the northern New Mexico area.
Change coordinate system	You are asked to provide coordinates for a helicopter in latitude-longitude format and your GPS is currently set to UTM.
Save a waypoint	You find a footprint at a point where a tracking dog is clearly showing interest and you want to save the point in case the track is lost later and you need to return to the location.
Navigate to a waypoint, including entering coordinates manually and determining the heading to a waypoint	You and your teammates have found a deceased subject and you are asked to return to base to lead in the OMI to the subject's location. You want to use the shortest route back to the scene, not necessarily the route you took when searching for the subject. (Of course, you would also consult a map for terrain obstacles.) Incident base calls all teams and notifies everyone that the search is over and all teams should return to base. You are are given the coordinates of another SAR team and are asked to meet up with them.
Recall a waypoint later	Because of radio reception, you could not call coordinates of a clue location into incident base until you climbed a ridge to improve communication. You are out in the field on assignment when a teammate, just arriving in the area, asks you for coordinates of incident base over the team radio frequency. (Of course, you always mark a waypoint at incident base and, if different, your vehicle's location before going into the field.)
Determine if you are within the bounds of specific coordinates	Incident base assigned you to clear an area, giving you some natural and coordinate bounds for your search area.
Determine how far you are from a coordinate (direct distance)	Incident base asks you how far you are from base.
Determine how long you will take to reach a coordinate, including using trip features	You are finished with your current assignment and incident base asks you when you will arrive back at base as they are planning new assignments.
Follow your track backwards	You know you lost your radio in the last 5 minutes. (Unfortunately, your GPS does not help you find your lost GPS!)
Recall your track map and relate your track to a topographic map	During your debrief, you need to describe and show on the map the areas you covered during your assignment.
Change the interface mode of your GPS for downloading	A support team is in incident base and they request that your GPS be in "Garmin" interface mode, as they are dowloading a record of each teams' search locations/coverage.