NASAR Qualification

[davedove]

Has anyone here pursued the NASAR qualifications?  If so, is it a cost effective thing for CAP members to pursue?  I know that all extra training is good, but could the same info be obtained through extra CAP training?  Or, is there a significant amount of material that doesn't really apply to CAP?

[DNall]

Got SaRTech II
There's a significant amount of training that DOES apply to CAP but is not offered internally. Granted it is stuff you won't use that often, but it's a rating that's recognized by the outside world, generally held by all rescue personnel, and is one of the requirements FEMA has on the list for WSAR certification - which is the same thing as GT & the standard we're going to be forced to go to in the next couple years.

As far as costs, the SARTECH III is order a book & take an online test w/a $50 fee. I'd pick up the book off ebay, but you don't need the rating before you take a higher one. SARTECH II & I (team leader) involve an all day or wknd class & a skills demonstration test at the end. IIRC it's about $150 each; I think 50 of that is the test fee, some covers books & equipment, rest goes to the instructor. We have a couple certified instructors in our Wg that have overlayed the training on top of advanced GT courses & you come out of the wknd w/ SARTECH II & GTM2 at a cost of around $60-76, which included food & everything for the wknd. I think that's what you'll eventually see as standard when the full NIMS standards & FEMA certification come down on us like a ton of bricks.

It does cost a couple bucks, but if you're going to be serious about GT, I highly advise you to look into it. If things come down on CAP the way they look like they will then you'll have a big head start on everyone else.

[Dragoon]

Given that NASAR is a private corporation and purposely limits the number of evaluators in a given area to avoid "competition" , I can't see the government ever mandating folks use their standards.  There will always be an "or equivalent" loophole that CAP or others can use.

That said, it's not bad stuff, and can be useful.  If you've to access to a cheap instructor, go for it!

[DNall]

Yes you're correct. This is the standards for the tech level, which GTM will come under. There's 4 type levels, these are the minimum requirements. The lowest type level is appropriate for your standard missing aircraft/person search. The upper level being first into Katrina & stay for a week or more. You can look at the leader (GTL) & Manager (GBD) critera via the link which mention SARTECH I (team leader):

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nims/sar_jobtitle_111806.pdf

SAR Job Title 35:  Wilderness Search and/or Rescue Technician
Description:  A Wilderness Search and/or Rescue Technician is a member of a Wilderness SAR Team who searches for and rescues those in trouble in urban/suburban as well as other environments.45

REQUISITE CRITERIA
The table below lists minimum requisite criteria, based on existing protocols and standards, for a Wilderness Search and/or Rescue Technician to participate in the NIMS Integration Center's National Emergency Responder Credentialing System.

Category
Criteria
Training
Fulfillment of requirement(s) as stated in the following standard(s) :
1. MRA 105 Operational Level; or ASTM F-2209 or NASAR SAR Tech II; or equivalent
2. NFPA 472 HazMat Awareness and/or OSHA 1910.120(Q)(6)(i), HazMat     Awareness Training or equivalent basic instruction on responding to and operating in a CBRNE incident
3. Bloodborne/Airborne Pathogens per OSHA
4. DOI AM B-3 or equivalent
Completion of the following baseline criteria:
5. OSHA 1910.120 and/or 1910.134(f) Respiratory Protection
6. Risk assessment
7. Hazard mitigation, including lifting, dealing with animals and possible armed subjects and criminals
8. PPE for 4 seasons in any of the anticipated areas of operation
9. Use of related SAR tools and devices
10. Various SAR Standards
11. Legal Aspects of SAR EMS, SAR risk, liability, insurance, and injury and death of members
12. SAR ethics, including dealing with families, confidentiality and media
13. Team and crew safety issues
14. For drivers: Driver's safety
15. Personal and team physical, medical and behavioral wellness, fitness, and limitations
16. Wilderness weather
17. Survival and bivouac in four seasons in any anticipated areas of operations
18. Use of other resources including canines and other animals
19. Recognizing possible child predator situations
20. Awareness for search around swift/flood water, underground spaces
21. HazMat awareness to include drug labs
22. Animal technical rescue awareness
23. Documentation and record keeping for SAR and EMS
24. Field Communications, interoperability, equipment, proper use of phones, radios, data
25. Medical aid of self, team members, and customers
26. Customer evacuations, choices, methods, equipment
27. Helicopter operations in SAR for all seasons in all anticipated areas of   operations,  including;
* Types of Helicopters in SAR
* Risk Continuum: low risk to higher risk helicopter use
* Related FAA regulations
* Personal capabilities and limitations and preflight prep
* Helicopter capabilities and limitations
* Safety Briefing/ Aircraft familiarization, storage, Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) introduction
* Safety rules, dos and don'ts
* Helicopter-related Communications for SAR personnel
* Night operations
* Customers on helicopters, control of, consent issues
* Basic emergency procedures on ground and in flight
* Uses of helicopter adjuncts, such as NVG and FLIR
* Basic physiological effects of flight on personnel, customers and equipment
* Special-Use issues, hazards, and mitigation
* Ingress and egress training and practice in all methods to be used on operations, such as hover ingress-egress, etc.


Completion of the following courses and/or curricula:
27. ICS-100: Introduction to ICS
28. ICS-200: Basic ICS
29. FEMA IS-700: NIMS, An Introduction
30. CERT (G-371) or equivalent for disaster related responses46

Experience
1. Finger print and background check
2. Participation in an AHJ currency program

Physical/ Medical Fitness
Completion of the following baseline criteria:
1. Medical requirements established by the AHJ
2. Minimum physical fitness standards as required by the AHJ, such as:
* MRA 105.1 Fitness
* CO WSAR Fitness
* NWCG Pack Test "Arduous"
* MCSOMR/CAMRA Mountain Rescue Specific Physical Ability Test (MRSPAT)
* NIMS WSAR Type II and IV Fitness
3.     CDC/ WHO recommended inoculations

Certification
1. Any of the following or equivalent:
* MRA 105.1 Operational Level
* NASAR SAR Technician II or greater
* Colorado State SAR Board WSAR Technician Type II or greater
* Appropriate equivalent State certification

[Redstar]

I believe NASAR may have sold their standards to ASTM, so if you train to ASTM standards would that not satisfy the requirements for NIMS typing?  You do not have to take the NASAR classes in order to take the test if you know the material and have mastered the skills.  NASAR SARTech I - Crewleader myself and I think the training was worth the time and cost. (EDIT, As I thought, it is ASTM, NASAR or equivalent)

[DNall]

Don't know details on that, but this document is fairly recent... Nov 2006. They're human too though so who knows.

[sardak]

NASAR did not sell its standards to ASTM.   NASAR has come full circle and realized that it shouldn't be writing standards (not a unanimous decision, and one that has created more rifts within NASAR).  All standards development in NASAR has been shifted back to the ASTM F32 Committee on Search and Rescue.  NASAR retained the rights to everything it has produced to date.

I say shifted back because it was NASAR that went to ASTM in 1987 and said that SAR standards should be developed by a national consensus organization instead of in-house.  Thus the F32 committee on SAR was formed.  For a number of reasons, not the least of which was (not) making money on sales, NASAR dropped its support of the F32 committee.  In 2004 or 2005 the NASAR board decided to go back to ASTM.

And, as you noticed, it's ASTM F-2209, SARTECH or MRA 105.1 for many NIMS requirements.  F-2209 was created by converting SARTECH II into generic format.  So, SARTECH II (and III) conform to ASTM F-2209.

ASTM is simply the mechanism to publish the standards.  The actual standards are developed and written by people in the field to which the committee's standards apply.  In this case F32 has about 80 members from various SAR organizations, for the most part in the US, but there are 6 or 8 members from other countries.

FWIW historical note, a CAP NHQ representative was at the first meeting of the F32 committee and announced to the assembly that CAP had no intention of participating in the standards process and has never deviated from that message.

Mike
Chairman, F32.02 Subcommittee on SAR Operations and Management
past 3 term F32 Committee Chairman

[SAR-EMT1]

The AF being as it is responsible for inland SAR - through AFRCC- why would national do something like that.

[DNall]

The AF being as it is responsible for inland SAR - through AFRCC- why would national do something like that.

Cause the standards applied to professionals or dedicated SaR teams (volunteers) if applied to CAP would mean your GT would have to train & function pretty much like a dedicated SaR team. That means no spare time to do anything else CAP related & no time to keep current while cross-training for staff/aircrew/comm. You have to pick a  spot & stay there, then dedicate 2-3 times as time to physically intensive training. That's a huge difference from what CAP is or has traditionally been, and it'd run off a ton of our members that think you can lolly gag thru life & stumble up on crashes every now & then.

[sarmed1]

SAR TECH II here myself....mostly for bragging rights.  More specifically when I show up and give the list of quals...its easier for outside agencies to grasp my level of training if I say SARTECH II rather than GBD.

Other than that there is very little info in the SARTECH course other than a little rope work that isnt in the current GTM series.  If you are serious about working the WSAR angle I think it's an important feather to stick in the hat (or helmet)....as far as a universal standard...not so much....being as few units out there have a dedicated WSAR mission tasking.

[DNall]

Once you pass from UDF to GTM, that's Wilderness Search according to FEMA. You're right that SaRTech II is not a huge departure from what we're already doing. Our wing was running a GSAR course that got people thru GTM2 & allowed for testing to SaRTech II at the end (obviously the instructor had the certification for it). They've gone over to doing CERT now, which is waste of time, but not my call.

I was also at GBD & SaRTechII before I slowed down on the ES, but you might look at SARTech I/crew leader. i understand that's more involved & appropriate to your skill level. It also opens you up to picking up the instructor cert so you can add the material over your own GTM training & maybe even make some beer money on the side.

[brasda91]

SAR TECH II.  There is a good deal of info that can be applied to CAP.  Any training / classes you can take that deals with SAR will be a benefit.  Here in KY, the DES (Disaster and Emergency Services) has Basic Search and Rescue that they require their members to take, prior to participating in a search.  It's not required for CAP, but we have previously had our squadron take the class simply for the knowledge.