PSS 10.2 Search and Rescue Stages

Purpose

To outline Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) search and rescue stages.

Policy

SLSNSW provides the following information for use by lifesaving services personnel.

Procedure

Introduction

When the SAR system first becomes aware of an actual or potential emergency, the information collected, and the initial action taken are often critical to successful SAR operations. It must be assumed that in each incident there are survivors who will need assistance and whose chances of survival are reduced by the passage of time. The success of a SAR operation depends on the speed with which the operation is planned and carried out. Information must be gathered and evaluated to determine the nature of the distress, the appropriate emergency phase, and what action should be taken.

Prompt receipt of all available information by the SurfCom is necessary for thorough evaluation, immediate decision on the best course of action and a timely activation of SAR assets to make it possible to:

1. Locate, support and rescue persons in distress in the shortest possible time; and
2. Use any contribution survivors may still be able to make towards their own rescue while they are still capable of doing so.

SAR Stages

The response to a SAR incident usually proceeds through a sequence of five stages. These stages are groups of activities typically performed by the SAR system in responding to a SAR incident from the time the system becomes aware of the incident until its response to the incident is concluded. The response to a particular SAR incident may not require the performance of every stage. For some incidents, the activities of one stage may overlap the activities of another stage such that the portions of two or more stages are being performed simultaneously. The five SAR stages are:

1. Awareness – Knowledge by any person or agency in the SAR system that an emergency situation exists or may exist.
2. Initial Action – Preliminary action taken to alert SAR assets and obtain more information. The stage may include evaluation and classification of the information, alerting of SAR assets, communication checks and, in urgent situations, immediate performance of appropriate activities from other stages.
3. Planning – The development of operational plans including plans for search, rescue and final delivery of survivors to medical facilities or other places of safety as appropriate.
4. Operations – Dispatching SAR assets to the scene, conducting searches, rescuing survivors, assisting distressed craft, providing necessary emergency care for survivors and delivering casualties to medical facilities.
5. Conclusion – Return of SRUs to a location where they are debriefed, refueled, replenished and prepared for other missions, return of SAR assets to their normal activities and completion of all required documentation.