6. Search Procedure Skills

Choose Four Search Procedure Skills

6.
Do the following:

You must choose exactly 4 options from this requirement.

Each option teaches a different piece of how SAR teams think. Some focus on vocabulary. Some help you understand how a search area is built. Others help you see how information about the missing person shapes the plan.

Your Options

  • Req 6a — Search vs. Rescue: Learn the difference between finding someone and getting them safely out. This helps you understand why the mission may change the moment the subject is located.
  • Req 6b — PLS and LKP: Understand the two starting points that shape the entire search area. You will learn why solid last-seen information matters so much.
  • Req 6c — Clear Communication: See how clear reports, radio discipline, and accurate notes keep teams from wasting time or missing clues.
  • Req 6d — Lost Person Behavior: Study how age and behavior patterns affect where teams look first and what tactics make sense.
  • Req 6e — Core SAR Terms: Build a vocabulary for urgency, confinement, scent work, clue handling, and common search methods.

How to Choose

Choosing Your four topics

Pick the combination that gives you the clearest picture of how SAR works
  • Best for mission basics: 6a, 6b, and 6c explain the structure of a search from start to finish.
  • Best for search planning: 6b, 6d, and 6e show how the search area, subject profile, and tactics fit together.
  • Best for learning field vocabulary: 6c and 6e introduce many of the terms and habits you will hear in real training.
  • What you gain: 6a sharpens the mission goal, 6b sharpens your starting point, 6c sharpens teamwork, 6d sharpens prediction, and 6e sharpens your language.
OptionTime to graspBest forWhat you gain
6aShortBig-picture understandingClear difference between locating and recovering
6bShortMap and planning skillsBetter search starting point
6cMediumTeamwork and leadershipBetter reporting and fewer mistakes
6dMediumSubject behavior and planningBetter idea of where to look first
6eLongestTerms and tacticsA broad vocabulary for real SAR conversations
  • 6a

    Time to grasp
    Short
    Best for
    Big-picture understanding
    What you gain
    Clear difference between locating and recovering
  • 6b

    Time to grasp
    Short
    Best for
    Map and planning skills
    What you gain
    Better search starting point
  • 6c

    Time to grasp
    Medium
    Best for
    Teamwork and leadership
    What you gain
    Better reporting and fewer mistakes
  • 6d

    Time to grasp
    Medium
    Best for
    Subject behavior and planning
    What you gain
    Better idea of where to look first
  • 6e

    Time to grasp
    Longest
    Best for
    Terms and tactics
    What you gain
    A broad vocabulary for real SAR conversations

Now start with the simplest distinction in the set: the difference between finding the subject and safely recovering the subject.