Ground Vehicle Search Techniques

1. Ground Vehicle Search Techniques Developed as part of the National Emergency Services Curriculum Project

2. Sectors of Observation • Team members without specific duties are assigned an arc to watch for clues • Driver, navigator, communicator, and other members with specific duties to perform should not be assigned sectors to observe

3. Sectors of Observation

4. Six rules of Sector Observation • Scan the entire sector • Left to right • Right to left • Near to far • Far to near • Observe vehicle safety • Wear your seat belt • Don’t distract or startle the driver

5. Six rules of Sector Observation Continued • Don’t distract other team members except to verify a clue or target • Be clue-conscious - not just target focused • Tell the driver if he or she is driving too fast for you to adequately search your area • If you see a clue or the objective, tell the team leader, but don’t shout or startle the driver

6. What Might You Spot? • Missing person • Vegetation disturbance indicating someone entering or leaving the woods • Dropped clothing or equipment • Potential witnesses • Missing person’s vehicle • The missing person!

7. What Might You Spot • Aircraft • Some of the same items as missing person if a pilot is attempting to walk out • Smoke, scavengers • Broken tree top vegetation • Wreckage or pieces of debris • Smell of burning oil and fuel • A survivor

8. Other Possibilities • A vehicle search team can be part of a confinement approach if there are roads defining the search area • Continual patrols may spot a victim attempting to walk out • Visibility may attract witnesses that could provide information • Vehicle search on the way into a search area.

9. Vehicle Search Tasks • Ground Team Member • O-0402: Employ Vehicular Scanning Techniques

10. QUESTIONS? THINK SAFETY!