Usually, I don’t like to write about new products until I’ve had a chance to use them. But I’m very excited since there are several new products that are just out or coming out shortly. Two new GPS units from Garmin, a new helmet camera from Samsung and the very exciting Kestrel 4500 pocket weather tracker.
Let’s start with the Kestrel 4500. Why is this such an exciting product? For three reasons:
Imagine this as an expensive puff bottle for checking wind direction and windspeed working air scent searches or even trailing problems. But it not only gives you the information you need while working a strategy, but also stores that information so that it can be later plotted on the map. Or, at least, that’s what I intend to do with it. Stay tuned for a demo this summer.
Next up is the new Samsung SC-X210WL. I’ve used the two previous Samsung helmet cameras in the past. The first was horrible, and I probably blogged on its performance somewhere. The second was quite good. The two problems that I had with it were: 1) battery life and 2) wire between the cam and the camera body. Samsung has eliminated the wire and so this camera should be even easier to operate and use in the field. The battery life should not be appreciably different (e.g., orders of magnitude better). So I carry lots of spares into the field. Or you can carry a battery power pack that can charge the camera for some hours.
Next is perhaps the most exciting product. The Garmin Astro comes out this month. It is a GPS-enabled dog tracking system designed for hunters. The handler carries a Garmin handset (includes the high-sensitive SiRF Star III chip) while the dog wears a collar containing a GPS and transmitter. The dog’s location is transmitted every 5 seconds to the handler and both tracks are saved on the handset. You can mark the location where the dog makes the find (making distance calculations a breeze). You can also track multiple dogs… so working joint operations with multiple dogs is a good possibility.
Finally, happily, Garmin is releasing the new Rino 530HCx. The Rino, of which I make much use, finally has a new high sensitive chipset and a also a microSD card. It’s not clear if it has a 3-axis compass that the Astro boasts on having.
Happily, Garmin has also set up a developer website. They’ve made it easy for developers to interact with Garmin devices and data via web services and plugins. I’m sure I’ll be testing these capabilities and writing about them soon!
Of of the niggly things about SAR management is the excessive use of forms. And, of course, everything is paper-based. A better way to manage paperwork is digitally. Users continue to use their standard workflow of paper management, but also keep a digital copy to share and distribute. Down with carbon copies!
Here’s the basic workflow. The search area is divided into areas. In the map below, the search area size is somewhat determined by the resource (e.g., K9 teams) and also topography. We try to draw up sectors that have easily identifiable boundaries by teams in the field.
Search areas are ranked by each member of the management team in terms of likelihood that the missing person could be in each particular area. Scores are averaged and sectors prioritized. For the sectors with the highest likelihood, the search management teams assigns first and also looks for a higher probability of detection from the assigned team.
Finally, task assignment forms (TAFs) are written up and sector maps attached to the forms. There are two copies of these forms, so it is common to use carbon paper. One copy is retained by search management when the task is assigned to a search team. The other copy goes to the search team.
Here’s a movie demonstrating how task assignment forms are stapled together so that it easy to tear apart the two copies. It’s an arcane art. (And… yes…. you need two staples.)
Xpaper is a product SAR managers can use to make it easier to store and distribute paper-based search management products such as Task Assignment Forms. Using a Logitech digital io2 pen, users write on standard forms. These forms should have been previously printed on a standard printer, but the paper is special xpaper. Xpaper costs about $15 for 100 sheets. So the cost is probably not much worse than carbon copy forms. Once the pen is docked in the computer, a digital copy of the form and the printed ink is saved as a .pdf file. Potentially, all paper products from a search could be stored electronically in this manner. So, hand em out as usual, but use only one copy and give that one to the searcher. The search manager should retain the pdf version and be able to organize it easily on a laptop, and hand over digital materials to incoming management teams or responsible authority.
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