Sponsored by ACR ElectronicsPresented by:

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WELCOME TO the 2009 National Search and RescueConference in hospitable Little Rock, Arkansas!!!! It is with great pleasure that we gather here in Little Rock for the 2009 National Search and RescueConference. We are here at the invitation of the warmly hospitable Arkansas SAR community. Thecommitment and enthusiasm they regularly demonstrate when helping those in need shone brightlywhen their invitation was extended. Their support to the NASAR Board of Directors and Staff duringthe Conference’s development has helped ensure an outstanding experience for us all.

As usual, this year’s slate of topics, training and education is intended to be both informative and meaningful. Your attendance testifies to your desire to sharpen skills and increaseyour professionalism. We all benefit by your participation and I encourage you to not only attend sessions of interest, but to reap the rewards of sharing your experiences and ideas with peers. This rare opportunity to network comes but once nationally each year and is not listed on the schedule ofevents…with the exception of the Hospitality Suite…but is certainly what enriches the experience.

I encourage you to complete workshop evaluations for those that you attend – we have more than 50 presenters and a multitude of topics. Your feedback will guide our planning efforts for next year’s event in Panama City, Florida; a site selected at the invitation of the Air Force RescueCoordination Center (AFRCC) located at nearby Tyndall AFB. We are also asking that you complete the conference topic survey located in your welcome materials.

One of the things that helps NASAR keep the cost of the conference down is the participation of the exhibitors. Please be sure to visit the exhibit hall and browse through the many products and services available to help accomplish your mission. Additionally, NASAR sincerely thanks ourtrack sponsors, without their support this conference would be less affordable and less enjoyable.NASAR makes every effort to keep the cost of training down for each participant and corporate support for our educational tracks is critical.

In closing, the NASAR Board of Directors and Staff are grateful to all the volunteers who gave their time and effort to make this 2009 National Search and Rescue Conference possible. We would like to thank:

Arkansas Department of Emergency ManagementArkansas Emergency Management AssociationArkansas Explorer Search and Rescue Arkansas Sheriff's AssociationArkansas Game and Fish CommissionAir-Evac LifeteamArkansas Fireboat AssociationCity of Little RockCity of North Little RockCongressman John BoozemanFranklin County EM/FSLittle Rock Fire Department

As you see attendees from these agencies working during the next few days, please thank them as well.Our time together each year is short, enjoy the training opportunities and take the time to reach outto SAR responders such as yourselves…that others may live.

Welcome to Little Rock,

Dan HourihanPresident

Little Rock Parks and RecreationMetropolitan Emergency Medical ServicesNorth Little Rock Fire DepartmentNorth Little Rock Parks and RecreationOffice of Arkansas Gov Mike BeebePulaski County Office of EmergencyManagementPulaski County Sheriff ’s DepartmentSearch Dog Alliance of ArkansasU.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary- Flotilla 15-08U.S. Army Corps of EngineersWashington County Emergency Management

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National Association for Search and Rescue, Inc.The job of searching for a missing person can be an emotionally trying experience. A child is lost, a traveler is missing, a home with a family inside is devastated in an earthquake, hikers are caught in an avalanche… All of these can be stressful situations for search and rescue professionals assigned to locate and,if at all possible, save the people involved. Search and Rescue is a life-saving vocation. And the ability to save a life is often dependent upon how quickly the person can be reached. NASAR has dedicated itself to ensuring that each of you has the training and confidence required to be of service to your jurisdiction.

…that others may live.

The Conference ConceptThe total emergency response community in the United Sates is immense: federal, state, and local fire and EMS, law enforcement and emergency management agencies number in the thousands and trained individual responders number in the hundreds of thousands. NASAR believes that a comprehensive emergency response conference is needed to serve this community. In accomplishing this goal, NASAR has developed a trainingforum which, we believe, cuts across the entire spectrum of contemporary emergencyresponse activity, is innovative in its approach and will be attractive to a broad audience

for its educational value.

HospitalityNetworking is a significant aspect of everyNASAR conference; the ability to meet andshare experiences with others in your field,one-on-one, is invaluable. To facilitate thisnetworking experience, we have arranged a Hospitality Suite during the conference. The Hospitality Suite is located in theRiverside East meeting room at the DoubleTree Hotel and will carry the tradition ofnightly fun and merriment. You can purchaseyour Hospitality Card (one time fee of $10 for two nights of fun) at Registration or nightly in the hospitality suite.

Contents3-4 Conference

Information

5-7 Thursday

7-10 Friday

11-14 Saturday

14 Exhibition Hall Floor Plan

14 List of Sponsors

16-17 Exhibitor Profiles

18-23 Conference Speakers

Door Prize DrawingsTraditionally, NASAR has solicited door prize donations from Search and Rescue and emergency product vendorsand used the sale of door prize drawing tickets for these items as a form of fund raising to support Associationactivities. This year, thanks to the generosity of numerous companies and individuals, an impressive array of usefuland valuable prizes has been assembled. Purchase tickets in the Bookstore. If you are not present, your ticket will be put back into the drawing. The Grand Prize Drawing will be held Friday, in the Exhibit Hall. YOU MUST BEPRESENT TO WIN THE GRAND PRIZE. Check your attendee bag flyer for dates, times and locations of alldrawings. So join the fun! Buy tickets and take a chance to win wonderful prizes and support your Association at the same time!

Conference InformationThe Conference Information Center is located at Registration during the duration of each day’s conference activities. The staff at Registration will be in constant contact with all members of the Conference Team and should be able to assist with any questions that you may have.

2009 NASAR Photo ContestThe 2009 Photo Contest is judged by you – an attendee of the 37th Annual Conference. Your vote will help us select a winner of the $100 first prize, $50 second prize and $25 third prize. The prize winning photographs will appear on the NASAR website. Please cast your vote at the Photo Contest Display at Registration!

NASAR BookstoreThe NASAR Bookstore is located in the Palisades room. The Bookstore is your one-stop shop for books, training texts, videos, computer software, t-shirts, hats and other SAR items. Come early, the new arrivals go fast!

Conference TeamDan Hourihan, NASAR President Megan Bartlett, NASAR Executive Director, Co-ICFred Mullen, Co-ICAllen Lawrence, Little Rock Logistics ChiefRoss Robinson, Finance Section ChiefRon Seitz, Operations Section ChiefHoward Paul, Information OfficerJanet Adere, Registration and NASAR Education ServicesEllen Wingerd, Bookstore and NASAR Member ServicesRobert Bewer, Exhibit Hall Manager George Rice, Safety OfficerEric Martin, NASAR Education Track LeaderJohn Boburchuk, General and Management Track LeaderCole Brown, Government Interface, Homeland Security and Urban SAR Track LeaderPete Gannon, Public Safety Diving Track LeaderJanet Yatchak, SAR Dog Track LeaderDJ Walker, Technical Track LeaderPhilip Miller, Swiftwater/Flood Track Leader

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Sess ions Thursday, May 28

OPENING SESSIONWelcome and Opening RemarksDan Hourihan, NASAR President, and inviteddignitaries welcome each of you to the 2009National Search and Rescue Conference andLittle Rock.AwardsEach year, NASAR pays tribute to agencies,organizations and individuals who, throughoutstanding services or achievements, make a substantial contribution in the search andrescue field. At this year’s ceremony, the following awards will be given:The State/Canadian Province SAR Awardwas established in 1974 by the NASAR Board of Directors to recognize significantcontributions to search and rescue at the stateor provincial level. The award is given to anindividual or a “unit”.The Bob Wright Award was established in1993 by the NASAR Board of Directors torecognize significant contribution to NationalSearch and Rescue in the areas of “YouthLeadership” and “Dedication to Education”. The Hal Foss Award was established in 1974by the NASAR Board of Directors to recog-nize significant contributions to search andrescue at the National Level. The award isnamed for Hal Foss, who died during a climbin Washington State, was the WashingtonState SAR Coordinator, and is generally cred-ited with forming the organization that hasevolved into NASAR. The Instructor of the Year Award was established in 1994 by the NASAR Board ofDirectors to recognize significant contributionto search and rescue at the NASAR instructorlevel. The award is granted solely on merit toan individual selected by the NASAR Board of Directors who best represents, in their opinion, educational excellence in the field of search and rescue.

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Workshop Gen/Mgt #1, General/ManagementSARGrand Ballroom, Salon BGeocaching as a SAR Training Tool Fred Halley, Jr., NorthEast Mobile Search And RescueSearch and Rescue (SAR) training is challeng-ing, time consuming, and strenuous. SARinstructors are continually looking for newand innovative ways to teach vital skills thatcan mean the difference between life anddeath, or a rescue and a recovery. Geocachingis a high tech treasure hunt that offers an inexpensive and entertaining way to learn andimprove both basic and advanced SAR skills.Through Geocaching and the use a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) receivers or othernavigational techniques, participants play ahigh-tech sport of hide and seek. In the courseof play, geocachers learn or enhance their skillsin mapping, compassing, clue detection, andother SAR techniques in a non-emergent,non-life-threatening situation. Map and compass are one of SAR’s most basic skills and Geocaching helps searchers build mapand compass skills by using the same tech-niques to find a hidden cache that SAR uses to locate a lost person. It also improves thesearchers’ understanding of and ability to use GPS devices for search and rescue. SARpersonnel need to have a true understandingof how GPS devices operate and of what thedevices’ features and limitations are.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #1,Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastCivil Air Patrol Capabilities Overview & Distress Beacon Mission HighlightsJohn Desmarais, Deputy Director of Operationsfrom Civil Air Patrol National HeadquartersThis presentation will provide an overview ofCAP’s current and developing resource capa-bilities to meet search and rescue and otheremergency services mission needs. Also dis-cussed will be trends noted so far by CAP forelectronic search missions for distress beaconssince the phase out of 121.5 processing bySARSAT-COSPAS satellites which began on the 1st of February of 2009.

1 3 3 0 - 1 5 0 0Workshop PSD #1, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102SOP’s for Public Safety Dive TeamsPete Gannon, Dive Rescue InternationalThis lecture will discuss the SOP’s for PublicSafety teams. These standards have beenreviewed by some of the best Public Safetyteams and meet the NFPA standards. We willdiscuss how to adopt them to your team. TheStandards have been review by a Public SafetyDiving Attorney.

Workshop K9 #1, SAR Dog SARGrand Ballroom, Salon DCanine Disaster Response in the USTeresa MacPherson, Virginia Search and Rescue Dog AssociationThis presentation will focus on the variousagencies involved in Canine DisasterResponse. In recent years, this topic has gener-ated much needed awareness and attention.Federal Urban Search and Rescue (FEMAUS&R), State Urban Search and Rescue(SUSAR) and the National IncidentManagement System (NIMS) are all majorplayers and a part of the discussion. These agencies are actively setting guidelinesand best practices for training, testing andmaintaining quality disaster search canineteams for Federal, State and local response.This presentation will provide insight as to thecurrent status of Canine Disaster Response.

Workshop Water #1, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon A“Why Educate the Public?” — Whydeveloping a public education program is a must!Brian Ferguson and Phil Miller, Prince WilliamCo Fire and RescueWe have often heard “The safest rescue is theone I don’t have to do” so how do we educatethe public to the dangers in flood and swiftwater? This program will look at a public education program done in Prince WilliamCounty, Virginia specific to flood water dan-gers at a commuter rail station. We will look atseveral aspects of preparation involved beforethe program, what we did to educate the pub-lic and what follow up was conducted todetermine success or failure of the program.

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Thursday, May 28 Sess ions

Workshop Tech #1, Technical Robinson Center, Room 103 System Safety FactorsDJ Walker, Austin, TX Fire DepartmentThis is a discussion about system safety fac-tors/ ratios in rope rescue often referred to assafety factors. At times there can be confusiondeciphering how the National Fire ProtectionAssociation (NFPA) and other standards applyin rope rescue. There are also different varia-tions for how “safety factors” are derived. Wewill discuss these standards, methods for calcu-lating system safety factors/ratios, and how rig-ging methods can affect system safety. What“safety factor” does your team use? 4:1, 10:1,15:1? Are these really obtainable? We will takea more in-depth look at safety factors/ratiosand strive to answer some of these questions.

Workshop NASAR Edu #1, NASAR EducationRobinson Center, Room 101NASAR SARTECH II EvaluatorWorkshopEric Martin, NASAR Ground SAR CommitteeChairNASAR SARTECH II Evaluators are (nonpaid) contract employees of NASAR whodonate their time and skill in evaluating thepractical stations of the SARTECH II certification examination. NASAR LeadEvaluator positions are upgrades from thecadre of NASAR Evaluators. Prerequisites: Applicants must be a votingmember of NASAR in good standing andhave earned the NASAR SARTECH II certification. They must have submitted theEvaluator Candidate Application Packet andreceived approval to take the SARTECH IIEvaluator Workshop.

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Workshop Gen/Mgt #2, General/ManagementSARGrand Ballroom, Salon BSAR REHAB Response Kathleen Barton, NorthEast Mobile Search andRescueAre we taking care of ourselves and our teamresponders?This presentation will look at how we makesure we do not become the victim. The fireservice and HAZMAT response have longacknowledged the need to make sure theresponders are well taken care of before duringand after the incident. Are we doing the samefor our SAR responders? Do we take bettercaution with our K9s than ourselves beforeduring and after? Who looks out for US? Howdo we do so? What do we need to look at?Kathleen will strive to answer these and otherquestions during this session.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #2,Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastGeoreferencing and Catastrophic IncidentSearch and Rescue (CISAR)Rick Button, Office of Search and Rescue, U.S. Coast GuardThis presentation will discuss the NationalSAR Committees work in understanding anddeveloping maritime, aeronautical and land-based georeferencing requirements in a disasterresponse scenario. There is no single georefer-encing system that will support all SARResponders. How can georeferencing informa-tion be disseminated and understood in a disaster among air, marine, ground SARresponders and Incident Command (coordi-nation) staffs? This presentation explains theproblems associated with georeferencing andthe CISAR responder and a way forward.

Workshop PSD #2, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102Risk Management with ProperDecontamination ProductsFaith Ortins, Diving Unlimited InternationalImprove your team’s readiness and capabilitieswith decontamination procedures. Learnstrategies for successful grant writing andfunding opportunities for your team.

1 5 3 0 - 1 7 0 0Workshop K9 #2, SAR Dog SARGrand Ballroom, Salon DCanine Code of Conduct: One Year LaterRobin Habeger, STAR 1 Search and Rescue (IA)During the NASAR 2008 Conference, canine handlers met to collaborate and develop aCode of Conduct. This year we are askingthose present that participated in that processto return and be prepared to discuss the resultsof those efforts. Addi tionally, even if you didnot attend previously, you are welcome toattend this year’s session, provide input and lis-ten to the results of last year. This year’s focuswill be to determine if revision is necessary andhow we may be able to further push profes-sionalism and ethics in our chosen volunteerprofession.

Workshop Water #2, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon ATBA

Workshop Tech #2, TechnicalRobinson Center, Room 103Red Mountain Bus FTX & the GuidingLineNorm Rooker, Ouray County EMS, COThe portion of US Highway 550 that con-nects the City of Ouray to Silverton, CO iscomprised of 27 highly scenic and twisty mileswith very few guardrails and steep drop offs ofup to 410 feet. Since January of 2005, OurayCounty emergency services have responded toeight over the side vehicle rescues, all for cars,SUVs or vans. And most recently, a 20 footpanel truck. Emergency responders for thisportion of Colorado wondered what rescuestrategies would be needed to respond to atour bus going over the side ala the MexicanHat Utah 2008 motor coach accident and res-cue efforts. Towards that end, a school bus wasobtained and pushed over the side of RedMountain. Come join Norm as he describeshow this Field Training Exercise was puttogether, what strategy and tactics wereselected, how the FTX played out and the lessons learned.

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Sess ions Friday, May 29

SPECIAL INTEREST AND EVENINGSESSIONS

Workshop SIG #2Grand Ballroom, Salon AMeet the Candidates for the Board ofDirectorsGeorge Rice, NASAR Board of DirectorEach year, one third of the seats on theNASAR Board of Directors are open for elec-tions. Those elected to serve can have a majorimpact on search and rescue nationally. Weencourage you to stop by and meet the candi-dates who will be running for office this year.Ask them questions, get to know them. Youractive involvement in the process will helpensure a viable organization in the future.

Workshop SIG #3Robinson Center, Room 102Mounted SAR DiscussionJorene Downs, NASAR Mounted SARCommittee ChairThe door will be open for anyone interested in Mounted Search and Rescue. NASAR hasseen a surge of inquiries related to this spe-cialty in the last year and would like to foster a more organized and formalized training andcertification process for Mounted SAR. Pleasejoin us as we assess the steps to be taken as this field moves forward.

Workshop SIG #4Grand Ballroom, Salon DNASAR SAR Dog Community MeetingMike Wiederhold, NASAR SAR DogCommittee ChairThis annual NASAR SAR Dog Committeemeeting will allow participants to learn whathas occurred within the Section over the pastyear as well as plans for the future. All caninehandlers, whether NASAR members or not,are invited to attend the meeting.

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Workshop SIG #5Grand Ballroom, Salon BNASAR Water (Swiftwater/Flood/Dive)Community MeetingNorm Rooker, NASAR Water Committee ChairThis meeting will allow participants to learnwhat has occurred within the three subcom-mittee sections; dive, flood and swiftwater. Allthose interested, whether NASAR members or not, are invited to attend the meeting.

Workshop SIG #6Robinson Center, Room 103NASAR’s Tracking Education Task ForceGroup (TETG) – Progress Report Del Morris, NASAR Tracking Education Task Force ChairA presentation on where the TETG is “at todate” as it applies to our primary project ofNASAR Course Material and our intendedNASAR Course format. We will outline futureTETG project intentions and projected time-lines. We will have presentation of who makesup the current Committee as well as handoutsof ‘Draft’ material that has been approved to be shared. We will outline what is beingreadied for ASTM submission as potentialNASAR Credentialing. We will provide anopen platform for feedback and input as wellas invitations for other trackers to join thiscommittee or ASTM [as well as other feed-back options]. We show how we are doingeverything in our power to assure opennessand transparency to the tracking communityas this project proceeds forward.

Workshop Gen/Mgt #3, General/ManagementSARGrand Ballroom, Salon BSearching in the Age of Online SocialNetworksChristopher S. Young, Contra Costa CountySheriff ’s Search and Rescue TeamAs technology and the information superhighway advances, so has its use in the searchfor a missing person. Recent documentedcases have shown that pure investigation usingthe Internet have resulted in the location ofmissing persons, thus preventing unnecessaryuse of valuable resources in the field, giving thephrase “Internet Search” a whole new mean-ing. While todays younger generation is adeptat moving around the social networks of cyber

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space, like the popular “MySpace” ‘Facebook”and “Twitter”, many of us “troglodytes” needsome guiding through the immense maze ofinformation. This presentation will explore amultitude of social networks, blogs, wiki sites;the terminologies; the mechanics of movingaround in these new cyber spaces; where tolook for pertinent information that may berelated to the missing person disappearance,and how to apply the information in buildingthe missing person profile and investigation.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #3,Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastSAR Theory in SAR Planning, Part I Eric J. Steward, National SAR School This presentation will familiarize the audiencewith the material covered during the one-weekInland SAR Planning Course provided jointlyby the Air Force Rescue Coordination Centerand the USCG National Search and RescueSchool. This daylong event will take an in-depth look at inland search theory and itsapplication to land and air searches for missingpersons and aircraft with a focus on wilder-ness, not urban, searches using worksheets andcomputer applications. The majority of thisworkshop is an emphasis on the planning nec-essary for effective area-type searching duringan extended search using Probability ofSuccess (POS), rather than just a few elementsof Probability of Contain ment (POC) orProbability of Detection (POD), to predica-tively allocate limited resources to their besteffect. In essence, what to do after the hastysearch and specialty resources have not foundthe missing person or aircraft. The workshopwill not cover search tactics or technical proce-dures and does not incorporate field training.The workshop is directed toward SAR leadersin federal, state, and local emergency servicesand law enforcement, as well as Civil AirPatrol, international, and volunteer SAR agen-cies — those few people who are responsiblefor the planning and overall conduct of inlandsearch missions. The target audience includeson-scene incident commanders and their planners, operations leaders, and up-channelreporting chain. Aiming to “find the objectivefast”, the workshop centers on tools such ascomputer applications to help SAR decisionmakers determine where to search, how todivide an area between limited searchresources, and how to craft the overall searcheffort to gain the best increases in likelihood of success at each step.

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Friday, May 29 Sess ions

Workshop NASAR Edu #2, NASAR EducationRobinson Center, Room 101NASAR SARTECH Evaluator and LeadEvaluator Information SessionEric Martin, NASAR Ground SAR CommitteeChairJohn Boburchuk, NASAR SARTECHCertification Review ManagerIt is requested that all current NASAR LeadEvaluators and Evaluators (both ground andK9), attending the NASAR Conference,attend this SARTECH Evaluator and LeadEvaluator Information Session. Items that willbe discussed include recent issues that havearisen with the certification process, upcomingchanges with certifications and the updatingof SARTECH certifica tions. Lead Evaluatorsand Evaluators will have the opportunity toask questions and voice their concerns withthe certification process. This meeting willallow all evaluators to network with other evaluators.

Workshop PSD #3, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102DP1 Surface Supply SystemPete Gannon, Dive Rescue InternationalThis lecture will discuss the advantages ofusing the light weight surface supplied air sys-tem during rapid deployment. The DP1 is thenewest surface supply diving system on themarket. The DP1 surface supply system hoseand surface supply dive control panel enablerapid deployment into remote locations.

Workshop K9 #3, SAR Dog SARTraining Tracking/Trailing CaninesRobert J. Noziska, Border Search Trauma andRescue (BORSTAR)Workshops K9 #3 – 5 are a full day of trainingfocusing on problem-solving for canines at alllevels. Each portion of classroom training willbuild upon the previous session, followed withfield work by the participants and their caninepartners.Importance of a Ritual - This session willfocus on problems encountered at the start ofa track and methods used to get a controlled,confident start from your canine partner.

Workshop Water #3, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon ABuilding a Better Swiftwater BoatOperator George Lewis, Rescue 3 InternationalThis lecture will address the requirements andissues to train and maintain boat operators.Training requirements and training secrets willhelp team leaders develop a strategy for theirboat operators. We will also take a look atwhat other departments have done to main-tain their programs.

Workshop Tech #3, TechnicalRobinson Center, Room 103Belaying Falling LoadsDJ Walker, Austin, TX Fire DepartmentHave you ever caught a falling load on aBelay? Does your team regularly practice BelayLine actuations? If you answered no to one ofthese questions this is the workshop for you. Ifyou answered yes how does your team facili-tate this? What Belay devices do you use andwhy? Belays are a common staple amongmany technical rescue teams, but I have foundthat technical rescue training often focuses pri-marily on the mainline systems and minimizeBelay System practice. Does this mean that theBelay Systems are less important? This work-shop will give participants the opportunity toactually catch falling loads on various Belaydevices. We will discuss various factors andhow they relate to Belay effectiveness.Discussions will include: belay technique,belay system selection, rope elongation, and the affects of edge friction.

Workshop NASAR Edu #3, NASAR EducationRobinson Center, Room 101SARTECH I/Crewleader CertificationAllen Lawrence, Arkansas Explorer SARThe SARTECH I/CREWLEADER level of certification is the advanced level for SARpersonnel. It is recommended only for persons who function on SAR missionsas field searchers and who may function as Crewleader. Persons who obtain this certification are to function within the limitsof the certification described our website at http://www.nasar.org/nasar/education.php?id=10. The NASAR coursethat prepares one to challenge the SARTECHI/ CREWLEADER examination is AdvancedSearch and Rescue.

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The SARTECH certification program is anevaluation process not a learning process. Thisexamination consists of both a written examand a practical exam. The written examincludes one hundred and twenty (120) ques-tions covering the candidate’s knowledge ofsearch and rescue. A passing grade is 70% orabove. The candidate is also required to suc-cessfully complete a four station practicalexam. Should the candidate not successfullycomplete the practical exam, only the stationsthat are failed need be repeated within oneyear of the original testing date. The re-testingmay be completed at any SARTECHI/CREWLEADER examination. Prerequisites: Candidates must be certified atthe NASAR SARTECH II level. Candidatesmust have a current Advanced First Aid certifi-cation or higher and a current CPR certifica-tion or higher and provide proof at exam. An ideal Crewleader should be at the EMTlevel or above. It is recommended, but notrequired, that candidates have at least onehundred (100) hours on SAR missions; onehundred (100) hours of land based SAR training; and at least two (2) years active membership with a SAR organization. Candidate needs to attend exam with allequipment required for the written andpractical exam.Schedule 1030-1230 SARTECH I Written exam

(must pass exam in order toproceed to practical stations)

1230-1330 Lunch on your own1330-1530 Skills Testing 1600-1830 Conference Attendee BBQ

and Boat Demonstration1900- FinishedNight Land Navigation testing.

(Can also finish any stationsnot tested yet).

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Sess ions Friday, May 29

Workshop Gen/Mgt #4, General/ManagementSARGrand Ballroom, Salon BSAR Team SOP’s (What to, what not to)Paul Falavolito, Mark Jones, White Oak EMSThis presentation will be an overview of a SARteams organizational structure, that willinclude an in depth look at SAR teamStandard Operating Procedures. Discussionpoints will be on what to have, what’s nice tohave, what not to have and more.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #4,Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastSAR Theory in SAR Planning, Part II Eric J. Steward, National SAR School(See description from Govt/HLS/USAR #3)

Workshop PSD #4, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102Boat Water OpsDave Abt, USA Services, IncThis session will look at how lessons learnedfrom military small boat operations can beapplied to boat based dive rescue missions.Agencies across the country are being taskedwith more diverse marine responsibilities withlimited additional resources. A review of cur-rent and new equipment will be discussed thatwill provide solutions for these multi functionmission profiles without having to add special-ized equipment. In addition to looking atavailable platforms for dive ops and side scanplatforms, consideration will also be given tominimizing the risk for the boats, crews anddivers during missions.

Workshop K9 #4, SAR Dog SARGrand Ballroom, Salon DTraining Tracking/Trailing CaninesRobert J. Noziska, Border Search Trauma andRescue (BORSTAR)Voice Tones and Leash Control (Keepingyour dog on trail) – This session will focus onthe correct tones to keep your dog on trail andengaged. In addition, it will focus on theproper communication between you and yourdog while working on leash.

1 1 0 0 - 1 2 0 0Workshop Water #4, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon AA Review of the River Road Rescue fromthe On-Scene CommanderSteve Miller, Cabin John MD Fire and RescueJim Resnick, Montgomery Co MD Fire RescueServiceA review of the swiftwater rescue seen aroundthe world live on TV. What happens when a 66" water main breaks and turns a crowdedcommuter road into a roaring river at rushhour? A review of methods used by individualson scene by those individuals.

Workshop Tech #4, TechnicalRobinson Center, Room 103Avoiding Edge Trauma - Using ArtificialHigh DirectionalsLoui McCurley, Pigeon Mountain Industries, Inc.Steve Hudson, Pigeon Mountain Industries, Inc.“Edge Trauma” is the term given to traumainflicted on equipment, systems, and rescuers asa result of edge friction and obstacles in the highangle environment. Edges themselves are anunavoidable fact of any high angle rescue opera-tion, and learning to negotiate edges effectivelyis a matter of education, understanding, andskill. This session will explore the use of variousforms of Artificial High Directionals withemphasis on easy rigging, force multipliers, andtips for best use of high directionals.

Workshop Gen/Mgt #5, General/ManagementSARGrand Ballroom, Salon BRegardless of All You’ve Heard — NIMS is NOT a Four Letter Word Fred Mullen, Franklin County, ArkansasEmergency ManagementOur organization had some difficulty in adopt-ing the National Incident Management System.The teaching materials explain the structurewell, but didn’t seem to provide us with theguidance on how to implement it. Nor did itgive us much input into what the tasks are thatgo along with each function box.So we developed an underlying core of essentialsof ICS that appeared to be the best practices forutilizing the system. We also realized there were‘culture issues’—we had to determine how todiscontinue what we had been doing as respon-ders for years. We now look at ICS not just as astructure, but as a responder responsibility—apart of our standard of care. We now try to rec-ognize it not just as a group of boxes, but the

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emphasis on the relationships it establishes, thecommunications it improves and the focus itcan bring to bear on the mission at hand. Wedon’t have all the practical answers, but we willlead you on a productive discussion of thisimportant concept.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #5, Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastSAR Theory in SAR Planning, Part IIIEric J. Steward, National SAR School(See description from Govt/HLS/USAR #3)

Workshop PSD #5, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102NFPA Dive PPE Round TableDave Apt USA Services, Inc., Pete Gannon ofDive Rescue International, Faith Ortins ofDiving Unlimited InternationalDave Apt USA Services, Inc. Pete Gannon ofDive Rescue International and Faith Ortins ofDiving Unlimited International, will conducta round table discussion on the new PPENFPA standards and how they will affect thewater rescue responders if passed andapproved. We will also review current divestandards and solict on who has them now.

Workshop K9 #5, SAR Dog SARGrand Ballroom, Salon DTraining Tracking/Trailing CaninesRobert J. Noziska, Border Search Trauma andRescue (BORSTAR)Field Work and Problem Solving – Thesesessions will be used to assist handlers with anyquestions or problems they are encounteringwith their canine partners. In addition, thecanines will be evaluated and a training cur-riculum will be suggested to assist them inreaching their goals.

Workshop Water #5, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon AArkansas’ Fire Boat Program — A Look atthe History and Evolution of the ArkansasFire Boat ProgramBill Barnes, Arkansas Fire Boat ProgramThis presentation will be a one-hour sessionon the history and evolution of theArkansas’ Fire Boat Program. We will presentthe need that prompted the Program and theinitial relationship with the U.S. Forest Serviceat the beginning of the Program. We will thenlook at the evolution of that relationship andsome of the problems encountered. There willalso be a discussion of the equipment currentlybeing used with a demonstration on the riverusing that equipment.

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Friday, May 29 Sess ions

Workshop Tech #5, TechnicalRobinson Center, Room 103Two Tensioned Rope SystemsDJ Walker, Austin, TX Fire DepartmentFor many rescuers in the United States, TwoTensioned Rope Systems are commonplace, butin other areas they are considered taboo. Forthose not familiar with these systems, we willdefine the difference between Two TensionedRope Systems and the more traditional SingleTensioned Main Un-tensioned Belay Systems.We will consider the advantages and disadvan-tages of both. This discussion would be anexcellent precursor for those planning toattend the Hands-on Technical RescueSystems workshop series, though it is not arequirement.

SPECIAL INTEREST AND EVENINGSESSIONS

BBQ and Water Rescue Demonstration The BBQ, supplied by Outlaw Enterprises,will be located at the “Sunken Plaza” inRiverfront Park. Attendees will use the pedes-trian “Junction Bridge” located next to theDouble Tree Hotel. The water rescue demonstration and exercisewill demonstrate the capabilities of the PulaskiCounty Water Rescue Group agencies andother mutual aid partners from aroundArkansas. The purpose of this exercise is tosimulate various scenarios such as the responseto barge fires, boating accidents, and victims inthe water. Fire fighting capabilities, victim res-cue techniques, and patient packaging andtreatment are some of the planned events.Practicing for a Mass Casualty event on theriver that would involve multiple agencies isone of the important purposes of this exercise.This exercise will utilize the IncidentCommand System and will involve severalFire, Police, Emergency Medical Service,Search and Rescue, and Law Enforcementagencies working together under a unifiedcommand.

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Workshop SIG #7Grand Ballroom, Salon BCadaver Dogs in Archaeological Survey:Review of a 5 Year StudyPaul Martin, Washington County Sheriff ’sDepartmentJohn M. Sullivan, Bureau of LandManagementA missing persons case led to a group ofIndian Mounds in the south part ofWashington County, Mississippi. No signs ofrecent activity were detected but the cadaverdog used to search the area did have noticeablebody language changes. In cooperation withthe Mississippi Department of Archives andHistory, canine handler Paul Martin andarchaeologist John Sullivan began questioningthe potential of using cadaver dogs to locatehistorical and prehistorical human remains.Over the course of five plus years they havesought answers on human decomposition, thehuman decomposition scent spectrum, andmovement of scent in varying soil types andvarying environmental conditions. They havealso worked with canines and handlers fromacross the country in what has become knownas the Annual Human Remains Specialized K-9 Training Invitational utilizing known histori-cal and prehistorical burials. Together withcanine handler Lisa Higgins they have devel-oped techniques and an understanding of thecomplex issues in approaching ! the use ofcadaver dogs in archaeological survey.

Workshop SIG #8Grand Ballroom, Salon ASAR Manager’s Tool Kit – Questions and ReviewRob Brewer, NASAR Board of DirectorWhat are your most pressing needs when itcomes to managing a search and rescue unit?Search and Rescue unit leadership often needsto create the administrative tools they need to properly run a unit, from bylaws to SOPsand from contact lists to training records databases. This can be a time consuming and ongoing effort.One of the objectives in NASAR’s StrategicPlan is to provide recruiting and retentiontools and materials to help local search and res-cue team managers manage their SAR unit(Goal 2, Objective 2). This Special InterestGroup session is meant to be an open forumwhere you can provide input to what youwant this Toolkit to be. John Boburchuk has

1 9 0 0 - 2 1 0 0already made some progress on this effort andyour feedback will help provide direction forour ongoing efforts. While recruiting andretention tools are the stated objective, thisToolkit will likely grow to include the otheradministrative tools you may or may notalready have.

Workshop SIG #9Grand Ballroom, Salon D Higgins and Langley Awards CeremonyHiggins and Langley Memorial Awards inSwiftwater Rescue were established by mem-bers of NASAR’s Swiftwater RescueCommittee in 1993 in honor of Earl Higginsand Jeff Langley. Earl Higgins lost his life dur-ing an attempt to rescue a 12 year old boy inthe flood-swollen Los Angles River in 1980.Jeff Langley died during a helicopter incidentin 1993. Prior to his death, Jeff had worked topromote the development of a multi-agencyswiftwater and flood rescue program in LosAngles County. Please join members of theHiggins and Langley Memorial AwardsCommittee in paying tribute to this year’sswiftwater heroes.

Workshop NASAR Edu #4, NASAR EducationRobinson Center, Room 101NASAR SARTECH II CertificationDavid Comstock, Washington Co SARThe SARTECH II level of certification is theintermediate level for SAR personnel. It is rec-ommended for any person who functions onSAR missions as field searchers. Persons whoobtain this certification are to function withinthe limits of the certification described on ourwebsite at http://www.nasar.org/ nasar/ educa-tion.php?id=9. In addition to the informationprovided on the website, the NASAR coursethat prepares one to challenge the SARTECHII is Fundamentals of Search and Rescue. Thenewest edition of the Fundamentals of Searchand Rescue textbook was released in 2005.Previous editions of the textbook will not prepare one to challenge the SARTECHII certification. The SARTECH certification program is anevaluation process not a learning process. Thisexamination consists of written exam and apractical exam. The written exam includes onehundred and forty-five (145) questions cover-ing the candidate’s knowledge of search andrescue. A passing grade is 70 or above.

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Successfully passing the SARTECH II writtentest assures the candidate to be certified at theSARTECH III level whether the practicalexam is passed or not. Upon passing the written exam, the candidateis then required to successfully complete a sixstation practical exam. Should the candidatenot successfully complete all of the practicalexam stations, only the stations that are failedneed be repeated if this is done within one yearof the original testing date. Up to two failedstations may be repeated on the day of theoriginal exam. If necessary, the re-testing maybe completed at any subsequent SARTECH IIevaluation. Prerequisites: There are no prerequisitesrequired for a person to challenge theSARTECH II examination. Certification his-tory does indicate persons who have had for-mal SAR training and experience on SARmissions successfully pass the examinationsmore frequently than others do.

Workshop SIG #10Edgehill ASTM Meeting ASTM Committee F-32 on Search andRescue was created at the request of theNASAR Board of Directors in 1987. Thecommittee has developed standards relatingto equipment testing; search managementand air, ground, mounted and dog trainingand methods. Anyone can attend the meetingsand offer comments, suggestions or proposenew standards activity. New members arewelcome to join and be involved in the standards process.The meeting will begin with a concurrentExecutive Committee meeting/Opening session where ASTM will discuss the agendaand any executive matters. The three subcommittees will then discusstopics specific to their specialties. There havebeen several ballots for new and revisions toexisting standards since our meeting inNovember. Most of the revisions and reap-provals of existing standards should pass with-out controversy, but time will be dedicatedto dealing with negative votes on proposedstandards.

Workshop Gen/Mgt #6, General/ManagementSARGrand Ballroom, Salon BWandering: Prevalence and Response for People with Alzheimer’s DiseaseKristy Klein, MSW, Alzheimer’s Assoc. NationalOfficeAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive,degenerative disease that attacks the brain.Symptoms of AD include gradual memoryloss, decline in ability to perform routine tasks,impairment of judgment, disorientation, diffi-culty in learning, loss of language skills, and adecline in intellectual function. The personwith AD often experiences confusion, person-ality and behavior changes, and difficulty find-ing words, finishing thoughts or followingdirections. One of the most life threateningand common behaviors exhibited by peoplewith AD is wandering. Studies show that over60 percent of people with Alzheimer’s diseasewill wander at some point during the progres-sion of the disease. The activity often results inindividuals wandering away from their care-givers; placing them at risk for becoming lost,injured or exposed to dangerous elements. Ifnot found within 24 hours, up to 50 percentof those people risk serious injury or death. This presentation will discuss the reasons why people with dementia wander, commonwandering patterns displayed by people withdementia and how to effectively communicatewith the person with dementia (if found) andhis or her caregivers throughout a search. Toolsto assist in the search process will be provided.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #6,Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastVolunteer First Responders, YourExpanded SAR Role in HomelandSecurity SupportVal Bilotti RN, BS CQM, CHS-VWhen a disaster or terrorist event threatens,those who respond are subject to a variety ofrisks. How do you plan to care for our firstline of defense? “Urban Shield” a 48+ hourSWAT training exercise, the single largesthomeland security training exercise of its kindin the United States not only tests participantsand law enforcement, but tests the planning,logistical support, oversight and care for thoseparticipating by an all volunteer team. With high probability threat scenarios spreadover a wide geographic area, providing care for

0 8 3 0 - 1 0 0 0over 200 event participants and another couple of hundred support personnel, poses its own set of challenges. We will address the medical pre-planning requirements, communications, logistical support and the operations that created a system that can be applied/adapted for the management of large-scale, real-world emergencies.This workshop will provide an overview of the considerations when preparing to respondto a Mutual Aid Crisis, how to utilize private,public, non-profit, profit, County, State andFederal resources; organize those entities in asustained operation over three counties — forone ultimate goal to, “Keep the team in theGame”.

Workshop PSD #6, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102Cost-Effective Side Scan SonarMark Gibson, HummingbirdThe presentation will discuss the options available for SAR organizations that eitherdon’t have the funds to afford high cost sidescan sonar units or want to use their budgetary dollars to outfit multiple boats instead of putting one high dollar system on a boat. Also included in the presentation will be a discussion about systems that are boatmounted and can be operated by only one user.

Workshop K9 #6, SAR Dog SARGrand Ballroom, Salon DChoosing Your Next SAR DogMike Wiederhold, Sonoran Search and RescueWhile this is a cadaver dog workshop, thisinformation applies to all disciplines of SAR.We will be looking at pros and cons of choos-ing a young adult versus a puppy, differentbreeds, buying from a breeder versus getting adog from the pound and the different evalua-tion programs out there and their underlyingthemes. Finally we will recognize the rewardssystem, the different types of reward systemsand the pros and cons of each.

Workshop Water #6, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon A“Dangers of the Dark” — A UniquePerspective on Swiftwater RescueOperations During Night OperationsTrey Smith, Rescue 3 SRT InstructorIn the wake of recent floods, responders areencountering a rise in the number of swiftwa-ter emergencies during nighttime hours. Manytechnical rescue teams are discovering much oftheir equipment nor training incorporates

Saturday, May 30 Sess ions

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night operations. The reduction in visibilitysignificantly impacts our operations throughpsychological stress, logistical demands, injuryrate, and dictates a change in tactics. The assumption night operations do not pres-ent any more danger than during daytime canbecome detrimental to the safety of personnel.Entering floodwaters at night is not avoidablebut is not encouraged! This presentationfocuses upon the various aspects of night oper-ations among swiftwater rescue professionals.The presentation will also include an evalua-tion of new technology for night operations.

Workshop Tech #6, TechnicalRobinson Center, Room 103Two Tensioned Rope Systems –Hands OnDJ Walker, Austin, TX Fire DepartmentFor many rescuers in the United States, TwoTensioned Rope Systems are commonplace, butin other areas they are considered taboo. Forthose not familiar with these systems, we willdefine the difference between Two TensionedRope Systems and the more traditional SingleTensioned Main Un-tensioned Belay Systems.We will consider the advantages and disadvan-tages of both. This discussion would be anexcellent precursor for those planning toattend the Hands-on Technical RescueSystems workshop series, though it is not a requirement.

Workshop Gen/Mgt #7, General/ManagementSAR

Grand Ballroom, Salon BYouth Programs for Search and RescueAllen Lawrence, Arkansas Explorer Search and RescueThe Youth Programs for Search and Rescuepresentation will address the history and background of Arkansas Explorer Search and Rescue as an example of how youth canbecome involved in Search and Rescue andhow youth oriented SAR Teams can beformed and utilized as viable resources. TheArkansas ESAR training program will bereviewed to show examples of how a multi-year program can be developed to offer a well rounded and exciting program for youthmembers. Sponsorship of a parent organiza-tion, insurance and liability issues, and fund-ing will be discussed. Recruiting youth and

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quality adult leadership to build a strong SARTeam is the key for success. Tips, techniques,and lessons learned from our sixteen year his-tory will be discussed. There will be a discus-sion period to answer your questions aboutYouth Programs for Search and Rescue.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #7, Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastFrom a Responders’ Point of View: Whatwas learned from the Windsor Tornado,Lessons LearnedCharles Kirmuss, Rampart/Adams County Co. Search and RescueFrom a responder’s perspective - how to sur-vive a failure of the State-wide radio networkand how to use technology to better manageresponding assets and field operations after les-sons were learned. The workshop covers theinitial response stage, first operational periodissues and how to better respond includingpre-planning.

Workshop PSD #7, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102Dealing with Bereaved Family and FriendsTom Greenhalgh, Billerica Police DepartmentDive teams spend countless hours preparingtheir technical skills for responding to inci-dents in the aquatic environment. One areawhich can have a great impact on the image of a team is how we deal with the families andfriends of a victim when a drowning tragedyoccurs. This seminar will explore some of theissues surrounding the proper way to deal withthese “secondary” victims, some of the pitfallsto avoid, and the impact on the recovery teammembers when faced with this inevitable partof the mission. Although geared towards theaquatic-related incident, this presentation willalso offer helpful insights into dealing withissues around bereavement in the non-aquaticenvironment.

Workshop K9 #7, SAR Dog SARGrand Ballroom, Salon DTraining the Final Response andImprinting Odor Mike Wiederhold, Sonoran Search and RescueContinuing from Workshop K9 #6, we willuse the reward system to train/shape the finalresponse. The workshop will then go throughthe step by step process of creating a solid finalresponse and eliminating false responses andhandler cues.

Workshop Water #7, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon ATexas Task Force 1 — Responding Texas StyleJoint presentation by members of Texas TaskForce 1As one of the busiest water rescue groups inthe United States, Texas Task Force 1 (TTF-1)has responded to many of the biggest events inthe past several years. Members of TTF-1 willshare their experiences and what they havelearned with attendees. Specifically large areasearches after hurricanes will be discussed andhow they worked in Galveston in 2008.

Workshop Tech #7, TechnicalRobinson Center, Room 103Two Tensioned Rope Systems – Hands onDJ Walker, Austin, TX Fire DepartmentThis workshop will give participants theopportunity to get their hands on TwoTensioned Rope Systems and use them inpractical settings. We will review the advan-tages to these techniques and discuss differentapplications. Whether you are a trained rescueguru or have never touched a rescue rope, thisworkshop will be beneficial to all. We will discuss the basics and explore the intricacies.You are encouraged to bring your own rescueequipment (helmet, harnesses, gloves, etc) or there will be equipment provided by PMI,our Track Sponsor.

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Workshop K9 #8, SAR Dog SARGrand Ballroom, Salon DTraining the Final Response (Cont.) & Problem Solving Mike Wiederhold, Sonoran Search and RescueContinuing with Workshops K9 #6 & 7, wewill work to improve the reward systems andcontinue working on improving the finalresponse. We will also show how to use helpersand their role in the training process. We willaddress any specific issue or problems handlersmight be having.

Workshop Gen/Mgt #8, General/ManagementSARGrand Ballroom, Salon BProbability MappingCharles R. Twardy, SARBayes ProjectRobert Koester, dBS ProductionsThe goal of Lost Person Behavior statistics is tocreate a full 2D probability map accountingfor all the relevant variables, including: the lostperson, the terrain, the scenario, and theelapsed time. We will discuss the latest sum-mary findings from the large InternationalSAR Incident Database (ISRID), newSARBayes models based on ISRID, and 2Dprobability maps generated from those mod-els. Since 2000, Bob and Charles have collabo-rated on several projects related to ISRID,including “Missing Person Behavior: AnAustralian Study”, and several U.S. State summaries modeled on that, and issued as those states were added to ISRID.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #8, Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastFostering Good Judgment in Your SARUnitDana Kirsch Ray, Civil Air PatrolSafety is no accident. Common sense is nolonger common. During this presentation wewill do an overview of crew resource manage-ment (CRM) principles observed in andderived from the “task overload” situation.This presentation covers ways to recognize andinfluence the culture of your SAR team to fos-ter an environment, which will promote goodjudgment. The workshop is heavily influencedby studies, statistics and best practices derived

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from both commercial pilots and police offi-cers as reported in the book ‘RedefiningAirmanship’ by Kern. We will review several CRM principles whichare applicable to SAR and look at examples inSAR operations when “task overload” mayhappen with catastrophic outcomes. Forexample, the FAA mandates and pilots haveadopted a broad use of checklists and pre-printed emergency procedures. Both pilotsand police officers use radio read-back-tech-niques and specific abbreviations to help withforeseeable “task overload” situations.The presentation is designed to provide aframework for you to think critically aboutyour team’s current status, safety culture, andto offer some suggestions for reducing risk. Byinitiating and supporting good judgment dur-ing trainings, you can improve the search’stimeline, strive to more efficiently use yourresources, and increase your overall safety margin.

Workshop PSD #8, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102MABAS Water Operations in IllinoisSteve Orusa, Waukegan, Il. Fire DepartmentThis presentation will focus on the develop-ment of a regional water operations responsein Illinois. It will include discussion on the fol-lowing:• Statewide Water Operation Team Typing• Technical and financial support for standard-

ized safe and effective training• Technical and financial support for standard-

ized safe and effective equipment• SOP/SOG Development• Validation of teams on a five year cycle• Inventory of ROV and Sonar technological

resources• Geographical support of ROV and Sonar

resources• Impact of MABAS on the Mid America

Mutual Aid Compact (MAMAC)

Workshop Water #8, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon AApplying Optimal Search Principles toInland SARJack Frost, USCG Search and RescueColleen Kelle, Metron Inc.The US Coast Guard has been using theSearch and Rescue Optimal Planning System(SAROPS) for planning and evaluating mar-itime searches since 2007. SAROPS has been

credited with several high-visibility “saves”. In2008, SAROPS was applied to some follow-on searching for the wreckage of the aircraftSteve Fossett last flew, to explore issues inapplying it to inland search. This presentationwill describe the SAROPS approach to searchplanning, will detail how it was used in the follow-on search and how it might have beenapplied to the original search, and will discussmodifications required to fully adapt SAROPSto the inland SAR problem.

Workshop Tech #8, TechnicalRobinson Center, Room 103Avoiding Edge Trauma — Using ArtificialHigh Directionals, Part ITom Burroughs, Washington County AR Searchand RescueThis clinic will focus on the use of counterbal-ance haul systems appropriate to search andrescue applications. Specifically addressed willbe rappelling counterbalance, climbing coun-terbalance and diminishing loop counterbal-ance as time and conditions permit.

Workshop Gen #9, General/Management SARGrand Ballroom, Salon BSearch Mathematics for SAR Managersand Planners Dan O’Connor, Northeast Wilderness Search & RescueSearch managers need proficiency across arange of mathematical functions to effectivelydefine a search area, deploy resources andupdate results from the field. This two hourworkshop will provide participants with an in-depth look at search management math andsome of the software tools available to ease thisprocess. Topics include calculation of theoreti-cal and statistical search areas, how to find anduse the median and various percentiles of lostperson distances traveled, how to analyze yourown agency lost person data and include it in apre-plan, various methods for creating an ini-tial consensus, updating a search with andwithout ROW, routines for optimizing thedeployment of resources, the mathematicalimportance of confinement, relatingProbability of Detection (POD) to coverage,K9 POD for SAR managers, calculatingcumulative POD for a segment, and use ofgrid search planning formulas to determinethe required number of searchers , searchablearea, hours of searching needed and required

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spacing given a particular set of constraints.Emphasis will be on developing a conceptualunderstanding of the techniques prior to usingspreadsheets or software like Windows CASIEto do the math. All software used in this classwill be available as free downloads.

Workshop Govt/HLS/USAR #9,Government/Homeland Security/Urban SARRiverside EastSAR Team Membership: AddressingGrowth and RetentionRob Brewer, Spokane Mountaineers SARRecruiting new people to your SAR unit is an ongoing effort. Sometimes we see a largerinflux of people who want to get involved,especially after significant events likeSeptember 11, 2001 or local searches that get a lot of media attention. This is where the challenge truly starts.How do we accommodate this new growth?With the exception of very successful member-ship drives, SAR groups rarely plan for alarger-than-usual number of new volunteers.We will talk about how to develop pre-plans to accommodate a larger group of recruitsthan you are used to handling.How to we keep the volunteers we alreadyhave around? In most SAR units, there is typically a small core group of around 20% of the membership. The remaining 80% arethose members who eventually stop showingup. We will focus discussion on how to retainmore of this group. Rob will strive to stimulatesome discussion about both of these topics sothat the people who attend can take someideas back to their units.

Workshop PSD #9, Public Safety DiveRobinson Center, Room 102Outfitting a Dive Team on a “Low or No Budget” and in Searching“So, Where’s the Body”Mark McEntire and Jerry Gipson, Conway AR Fire DepartmentMark McEntire and Jerry Gipson, have been co-leaders and dive team members for over twelve years with the Conway FireDepartment. Described as a progressive andwilling to do what it takes organization, theConway Fire Department, provides dive services to support the Conway communityand surrounding areas. This presentation will be on Outfitting a Dive Team “on a lowor no budget” and in searching – “so, where’sthe body”.

Workshop Water #9, Swiftwater FloodGrand Ballroom, Salon AThe Strains on Safety: A Perspective on River Rescue in Montana during the Highwater of 2008Cody Harris, The Whitewater Rescue InstituteRecreational use of rivers has increased expo-nentially over the past 10 years. This is true in Montana, as it is elsewhere. In Montana,

however, the winters have been mild and thespring rivers low. But in the summer of 2008this was not the case. As the winter snowsmelted, the rivers swelled to their highest flowsin a decade. Recreational boaters, who hadgained confidence on the tame spring flows of the past 10 years, were presented with thenew challenges of high water. This proved, insome cases, to be devastating. We will look ata number of accidents that occurred and ana-lyze the response, paying special attention torescuer safety. This combination of increasednumbers on rivers, and relative inexperiencewith high water, put great demands onMontana’s volunteer Search and Rescueteams. Much can be learned from their experiences at keeping the team safe.

Workshop Tech #9, TechnicalRobinson Center, Room 103Counter Balance Systems – Part IITom Burroughs, Washington County AR Search and RescueThis clinic will focus on the use of counterbal-ance haul systems appropriate to search andrescue applications. Specifically addressed willbe rappelling counterbalance, climbing coun-terbalance and diminishing loop counterbal-ance as time and conditions permit.

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An important part of your educational experience at the2009 National Search and Rescue Conference will be thequality of time you spend in the Exhibit Hall. For twodays, May 28th and 29th, you will have an opportunityto see firsthand and experience hands-on the advances inequipment/product technology and specialized servicesavailable to SAR organizations and individuals.

Robinson Center Exhibit Hall Schedule

Thursday, May 281200-1730 Grand Opening of the Exhibit HallFriday, May 291000-1600Exhibit Hall Open

State and Federal SAR Coordinators’ LuncheonEMS SATCOM, www.emssatcom.com

Technical TrackPigeon Mountain Industries, Inc., www.pmirope.com

Friday Night BBQOutlaw Enterprises

Hospitality SuiteArkansas Emergency Management Association,http://www.adem.arkansas.gov/documents/AEMA/index.htm

Beer for Hospitality SuiteO’Looney’s Liquor,#3 Rahling Circle- Suite 2, Little Rock

Wine for Hospitality SuitePost Family Winery,http://www.postfamilie.com/

Mount Bethel Winery,http://www.mountbethel.com/

Wiederkehr Wine Cellars,http://www.wiederkehrwines.com/

Door Prize Gift Cards donated byPro Med Emergency Medical Mgmt Services

Instructor StipendKirmuss & Assoc./Infinity Advanced Tech,www.wwtechnologiesdirect.com

Speaker Shirts provided byMayor Veronica Post, Altus, Wine Capital of Arkansas

L i s t of S p o n s o re s

Active Engineering, LLC- JAKPAK -Booth 336605 200th St. SW Lynnwood, WA 98036(800) 775-8119jwhite@activeengineering.netwww.jakpak.com

Active Engineering LLC creates innovativeproducts designed to provide safety andcomfort in an unpredictable world. Ourflagship product, the Jakpak, is the world’sfirst all-in-one waterproof jacket, sleepingbag and mini-tent. A portable personalshelter, the Jakpak provides an alternativefor outdoor enthusiasts and a reliable solution for emergency preparedness.

Air Evac LifeteamBooth 19306 Davis DriveP.O. Box 768West Plains, Missouri 65775(800) 793-0010eatmonjamie@air-evac.comwww.lifeteam.net

Air Evac Lifeteam, operated by Air EvacEMS, Inc., is the largest independentlyowned and operated membership-sup-ported air medical service in the UnitedStates, conducting its operations throughmore than 80 mutually-supporting airmedical bases across 14 states. The com-pany has established itself as the preeminentprovider of air ambulance services to ruralmarkets, serving over 1,700 diverse referralsources, including over 1,000 hospitals and700 EMS agencies, and attracting morethan 740,000 members in support of itspresence in their local communities.

Air Force Rescue Coordination CenterBooth 12650 Florida Ave (Stop 73) Tyndall AFB, FL 32403-5017(850) 283-5955/ (800) 851-3051http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/units/afrcc/

The Air Force Rescue Coordination Centeroperates the national search and rescue net-work ensuring timely and effective lifesav-ing operations. It is responsible for theexecution of the National Search andRescue Plan and mobilizes to supportwartime combat search and rescue opera-tions. The Center provides Air Forceinstruction to the National Search andRescue School and federal, state, and localagencies. It acts as the proponent for world-wide rescue coordination operations andreports directly to the 1st Air Force, AirCombat Command.

Alzheimer’s Association Safe RescuesBooth 21225 N. Michigan Ave 17th Floor Chicago, IL 60601-7633(800) 272-3900www.alz.org

Alzheimer's Association Safe ReturnTM is a nationwide identification, support andenrollment program working at the com-munity level. Safe Return provides assis-tance whether a person becomes lost locallyor far from home. Assistance is available 24 hours, every day, whenever a person islost or found. Safe Return assists in the safe return of individuals with Alzheimer'sor a related dementia who wander andbecome lost.

DeLormeBooth 172 DeLorme Dr Yarmouth, ME 04096(207) 846-7000Brian.stearns@delorme.comwww.deloreme.com

The DeLorme PN-40 GPS is a rugged,waterproof, handheld GPS receiver with ahigh-resolution screen for displaying mapsgenerated in DeLorme’s XMap software.Cut and transfer topographic data, USGSquads, aerial imagery, NOAA nauticalcharts, and even transfer Openspace GISlayers to the PN-40 for a powerful SARtool.

Fox 40 InternationalBooth 84645 Witmer Industrial Estate Niagara Falls, NY 14305(716) 298-1129jfoxcroft@fox40world.com www.fox40world.com

Fox 40 has become synonymous with inno-vating and producing the best quality, mosttrusted whistles in the world. Fox 40 PealessWhistles and Marine products are the pre-ferred choice for professional and individualsafety use worldwide. Fox 40 Whistles workwhere cell phones don’t and communicatelike a GPS can’t. The one that works in allconditions.

Hound Gear Pet ProductsBooth 205640 Stoneway TrailNashville, TN 37209(615) 352-0471mark@houndgear.net www.houndgear.net

Hound Gear® Pet Products are professional-grade products created, tested, and hand-crafted in America. Our new TacticalHarnessTM was developed specifically

for Search and Rescue and other tacticaloperations. The Tactical HarnessTM is lightweight, strong, highly visible, completely adjustable, and comfortable.Reflective and Cordura® models available.Custom or standard name panels.

Incident Response TechnologiesBooth 243131 South Vaughn Way • Suite 135 Aurora, CO 80014(720) 221-7394jarret@irtsoftware.com www.irtsoftware.com

Incident Response Technologies creates inno-vative technology solutions for emergencyservices agencies. Our premise is simple: wewant to be your exclusive provider of techno-logically advanced, budget-conscious prod-ucts and services to help your agency delivertop quality service to your community. Forinnovative solutions for emergency serv-ices… “Your Search Ends Here”.

Johnson Outdoors, Inc/HumminBirdBooth 18108 Maple Lane Eufaula, AL 36027(334) 695-3328www.humminbird.comjluther@johnsonoutdoors.com

A high performance affordable side scansonar product that includes a transducer thatis 1”x3”x6” that can be mounted directly tothe boat. The fully water proof 8” displayand GPS are ideal for SAR team use.

Jones and Bartlett PublishersBooth 740 Tall Pine Drive Sudbury, MA 01776(978) 579-8328apakiela@jbpub.comwww.jbpub.com

Jones and Bartlett Publishers and our distin-guished partners are committed to providingeducators and instructors with the mostaccurate and innovative teaching and learn-ing solutions available. We have partneredwith many organizations to provide you withsuperior educational materials to help drivethe future of public safety training.

Kirmuss & Assoc./Infinity AdvancedTechnologyBooth 35 & 3613401 W 43rd Dr Golden, CO 80403(303) 263-6353ckirmuss@frontier.netwww.wwtechnologiesdirect.com

Owned and operated by SAR TeamMembers, Kirmuss Associates/Infinity manufactures solutions for SAR such as field programmable 2-way portable radios,FEMA/SAR 24 hour packs and recently

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introduced an “on man” combination GPSSpeaker Microphone with LCD. Thisdevice when connected to most any 2-wayradio provides critical real-time informationand advanced asset management as well asreview of areas covered, including text mes-saging over a standard or P 25 radio forboth the Team Member and IncidentCommand.

Orion Safety ProductsBooth 111307 NW Hawk Creek Dr Blue Springs, MO 64015(816) 988-7659mikemast@orionsignals.com www.orionsignals.com

Orion Safety Products is a company dedi-cated to getting you home safely. Orionmanufactures a variety of pyrotechnics, firstaid, safety kits, audible signals and light-sitcks for just about every aspect imagina-ble. We sell fire departments, police,aviation, marine, wilderness, forestry, wild-fire all while trying to assure the safety andsafe return of every individual in everyinstance. We have products to help a per-son to be found, may they be lost, injuredbroken down etc. Orion Safety Productswants you to arrive home safely to yourfamily. Don’t be a statistic, “Be Seen”, “Be Saved”.

Outlander Trailers, LLC.Booth 30682 Grant 805 Sheridan, AR 72150 (501) 681-4573Robert@outlandertrailers.com www.outlandertrailers.com

Outlander Trailers has been designing and fabricating overland expedition trailers,ATV transports and ATV trailers since2002. Aside from our standard models, wecustom fabricate to meet the needs of ourcustomers. In the summer of 2008 webegan custom fabricating trailers for emer-gency responders based on their specificneeds.

Ozark Rescue Suppliers, Inc.Booth 31 & 32PO Box 237 Rogers, AR 72757(888) 677-2213 equipment@ozarkrescue.com

Ozark Rescue Suppliers works with emer-gency responders to provide the RIGHTTRAINING and the RIGHT EQUIP-MENT so you can provide the RIGHTRESPONSE. We distribute many of thetop brands of search gear and technical rescue equipment, and provide Rescue 3International's water and rope training toresponders.

Pinnacle Arborist SuppliesBooth 341011 A Rushing Circle Little Rock, AR 72204(501) 837-1212peterrausch@sbcglobal.netwww.pinnaclearboristsupplies.com

Pinnacle Arborist Supplies equipment, toolsand supplies for Work & Rescue profes-sionals. Search and Rescue personnel,High-angle construction crews andArborists will find NFPA and ANSI com-pliant ropes, slings, ascenders, descenders,carabiners, pulleys and rigging suppliesfrom major manufactures. Contact PAS at (501) 663-8733 or browse our websitewww.PinnacleArborist.com.

The Whitewater Rescue InstituteBooth 23210 Red Fox Rd. Lolo, MT 59847(800) 381-RAFTcody@whitewaterrescue.comwww.whitewaterrescue.com

The Whitewater Rescue Institute is a lead-ing provider of swiftwater rescue training.Students leave our courses with more thancertification. We teach through scenarios.And through these scenarios, students willgain a comprehensive understanding of

hazards and swiftwater rescue techniques.We provide search and rescue teams withreal, hands-on experience.

Whitewater Research and Safety InstituteBooth 221745 S Milestone Dr.Salt Lake City, UT 84140(435) 901-2571jd@whitewaterhelmet.comwww.whitewaterhelmet.com

The Whitewater Research & SafetyInstitute's MISSION is “To promote waterrecreation safety and save lives by dissemi-nating knowledge and improving equip-ment.” To this end WRSI productsincluding helmets, rescue rope sytems, faceand ear protection systems, are taken fromconceptual design engineering through prototype testing and manufacturing withconstant scrutiny to ensure the highest standards are met for rigorous use in water recreation and water rescue markets (www.whitewaterhelmet.com).

Zoll MedicalBooth 29269 Mill Rd.Chelmsford, MA 01824-4105aparker@zoll.comwww.zoll.com

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VIPKeynote Speaker: Captain David A. McBridewas born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He is a 1984 graduate of the U.S. Coast GuardAcademy, receiving a Bachelor of ScienceDegree in Management & Economics and anMBAA through Embry-Riddle AeronauticalUniversity. Captain McBride is currently serving asChief, Office and Search and Rescue (CG-534) at Coast Guard Headquarters inWashington, DC. His office has programoversight of the CG’s Search and Rescue mis-sion, developing national and internationalsearch and rescue policy and procedures.Captain McBride began his career aboard theWAGB Westwind, homeported in Mobile,AL serving as the Electrical EngineeringOfficer. In 1985, he was assigned to theUSCGC Glacier, homeported in Portland,OR as the Electrical Engineering Officer and Damage Control Assistant, making onedeployment to Antarctica. Captain McBridethen attended Primary Flight Training atNAS Pensacola, FL and Advanced FlightTraining at Corpus Christi, TX. His first avi-ation unit was the Aviation Training CenterMobile, AL where he was assigned to theOperations Division as Schedules Officer andPublic Affairs Officer. There he flew the HU-25 Falcon Fanjet, prosecuting Search andRescue cases, as well as deploying throughoutthe Caribbean carrying out the Drug AirInterdiction mission. After his first tour atATC Mobile, he was reassigned to the HU25Training Branch at ATC Mobile where heserved as an Instructor Pilot and also super-vised the CG’s Flight Simulator TrainingProgram. In 1996, he transitioned into theH60J Helicopter and was transferred to AirStation Clearwater, FL. While assigned to AirStation Clearwater, he once again prosecutedSearch and Rescue Cases and deployed insupport of Operation Bahamas and Turks andCaicos (OPBAT), an ongoing drug interdic-tion operation. At Air Station Clearwater heserved as the Administrations Officer andDeputy Executive Officer. In 2000, CaptainMcBride transitioned back into the HU25Falcon Fanjet and was assigned to theGroup/Air Station Corpus Christi, TX as the Operations Officers. He was directlyresponsible for all CG operations throughoutthe entire South Texas Region. In 2002, he fleeted up in to the Deputy GroupCommander position at Group/Air StationCorpus Christi. In 2004 he was assigned tothe Fifth District’s Office of Response as theIncident Management Branch Chief, alsoserving as the Atlantic Area Search and

Rescue Coordinator. He supervised the dailyoperation of the combined Atlantic Area andDistrict Command Center that oversaw theannual prosecution of 32,841 Search andRescue Case including 4,700 prosecuted bythe Fifth District. His last tour of duty was as the CG Liaison to the United StatesTransportation Command at Scott AFB inIllinois. Throughout his career he has accu-mulated over 4500 Flight Hours, prosecutingover 290 Search and Rescue and participatingin 9 major drug interdiction cases.Captain McBride’s personal decorationsinclude: a CG Meritorious Service medal, CGCommendation Medal, 911 Medal, 4 CGAchievement Medals, a Commandant’s Letterof Commendation, 2 National DefenseService Medals, Armed Forces Service Medal,3 Humanitarian Service Medals, 1 AntarcticService Medal, and 1 Military OutstandingVolunteer Service Medal.

Conference SpeakersDave Abt, Master-USCG, has spent his entirelife in and around the marine environment.Having grown up in a sailing family on CapeCod, he began sailing at the age of 6 and wassailing offshore by the age of 14. Dave is alsoa licensed PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainerhaving taught scuba diving throughout theUnited States as well as at the U.S. NavalAcademy in Annapolis. It is easy to say thathis whole life continues to center aroundmaritime activities. Additionally, Dave is Past-President of the Chesapeake Area ProfessionalCaptains Association. When not diving, Daveworks with Law Enforcement and FirstResponders providing tactical boat and waterrescue training. His varied vessel operatingexperience in tactical boat and water rescueon inland, coastal and offshore waters pro-vides him with a unique understanding of the vessels, teams and assets required for themarine segment of Public Safety. Dave manages the Annapolis, MD office of USAServices, Inc.; the recognized leader for PublicSafety boats and equipment as well as marinesurvival equipment. Dave and his team areuniquely qualified to provide the appropriateboats, marine equipment and PPE to thePublic Safety sector. (Workshop PSD 4 and 5)

Bill Barnes (Workshop Swift/Flood 5)

Kathleen Barton has been involved in emer-gency response for over 30 years as both aresponder and as an educator and an activeWilderness SAR responder with NorthEastMobile Search and Rescue in upstate NY forthe past 5 years. She has 10+ years function-

ing as an Occupational Health Nurse at amajor chemical plant responsible for thesafety and rehab of a HAZMAT/Fire Brigadeas well as being an EMS provider for the past30 years. Kathleen has also been a member of NYTF-2 since 1997 as a MedicalSpecialist/Rescue Specialist for the team andprovided rehab at WTC with that team. Herunique and varied positions have given her aninsight into the Wilderness SAR communityand a passion to make sure we all go home inthe same condition in which we responded.(Workshop Gen/Med/Mgt 2)

Val Bilotti, RN, BS, CQM, CHS-IV, withover 27 years of experience as a health careprofessional. Val has a unique well-roundedbackground in the medical field with a passion for Emergency Response andPreparedness. Combining military medicalexperience with current homeland securityneeds, she seeks to address the ongoing prepa-ration of law enforcement, first responders,emergency personnel, as well as the trainingneeds of the general public. A member of theAlameda County Sheriffs Search and RescueTeam, she is actively involved in SearchManagement and played key roles during the2006 Nina Reiser Searches. Recently in 2007and 2008, Val coordinated medical and logis-tics support for “Urban Shield”, a multi-daySWAT Training event. As a Registered Nurse,Val has worked in a variety of roles, including:Director of Performance Improvement, RiskManagement and Medical Records andJCAHO Preparation Consultant for an acutecare facility. A credentialed California educa-tor and POST Certified faculty member ofthe Alameda County Sheriffs Office RegionalTraining Center, she brings an endlessamount of energy and commitment to pro-moting local, state and national preparationefforts. Val is a member of CalMAT and isthe Principle/Owner of QUEST Quality,Emergency & Safety Training, a communityand corporate consulting company.(Workshop HLS/USAR/GOV 6)

Rob Brewer served as both training officerand president of Spokane Regional Searchand Rescue before taking some time tobecome a SARTECH II Evaluator and thenCoordinator (now termed Lead Evaluator.)When he returned to the local SAR scene, hejoined the Spokane Mountaineers Search andRescue team and served as its training officerfor two years. He was the vice-chair for theSpokane City/County Search and RescueCouncil for 2007 and the Chair for 2008 and2009. Rob’s latest project is heading up theredevelopment and reorganization of the localExplorer Search and Rescue Post. (WorkshopHLS/USAR/GOV 9)

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Tom Burroughs started in the fire service in1990 and has been active in many disciplinesin the last 18 years. He currently serves asTraining Officer for Washington CountyArkansas Search and Rescue and is a CaveRescue Instructor for the National CaveRescue Commission. He also teaches coursesin Swiftwater Rescue and Wilderness FirstAid. (Workshop Tech 4)

Richard Button is Chief of the CoordinationDivision, Office of Search and Rescue,United States Coast Guard and serves asSecretary of the National Search and RescueCommittee. Mr. Button and his staff con-duct outreach and education, as well as coordinate search and rescue policy and man-agement issues, both nationally and interna-tionally. Mr. Button recently retired from theCoast Guard after serving twenty-two yearson active duty. During his Coast Guardcareer, Mr. Button served on several CoastGuard cutters as well as twice serving as cuttercommanding officer. Mr. Button is a 1984graduate of the United States Coast GuardAcademy and a licensed Coast Guard MasterMariner. (Workshop HLS/USAR/GOV 2)

John W. Desmarais, Sr. is the DeputyDirector of Operations for the NationalHeadquarters of Civil Air Patrol, the UnitedStates Air Force Auxiliary. John serves as theheadquarters point of contact for all emer-gency services, counterdrug, and homelandsecurity matters. Mr. Desmarais interfaceswith federal, state, and local personnel onoperations issues, and assists in formulatingthe operations policies, program goals, andobjectives for CAP with the USAF and othercounterpart agencies at the national level. Hehas been involved with Civil Air Patrol opera-tions in varied capacities and levels for over 21years. While serving at the national headquar-ters, he has also worked several high priorityprojects. John is also a life member ofNASAR. He resides in Montgomery,Alabama and is married to the former MaryLeigh Strickland. They have two sons, Willand Wade. (Workshop HLS/USAR/GOV 1)

Paul Falavolito as a teenager in 1984 startedhis career in emergency services by joining theCivil Air Patrol. Attending as many SARrelated schools and classes as he could, Pauleventually went on to become Squadron 602SAR Team Commander and also completedthe Hawk Mountain Staff School forwinter/summer survival and SAR training.Paul is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainerand has worked and taught Scuba Divingthroughout the world. He holds a commercialDiving Certification in underwater welding,nuclear and contaminated diving as well as

Bell/Saturation Diving. He is a certifiedPublic Safety Diving instructor throughPSDA (Public Safety Diving Association) andcurrently holds Scuba Instructor certificationsthrough PADI, PSDA, IANTD and CMAS.In 1997, Paul became employed by WhiteOak EMS as a Paramedic and on September11, 2001 worked at the crash site in SomersetCounty. In 2005, Paul laid the groundworkto create the WOSAR Team after theHurricane Katrina disaster and in 2006 cre-ated the WOSAR Dive Team for water rescueand recovery. Paul holds several SAR certifica-tions through CCAC, The Allegheny CountyFire Academy, Texas A&M, FEMA, NASARand DCNR. (Workshop Gen/Med/Mgt 4)

Brian Ferguson, Lieutenant, is a full timecareer firefighter and a nationally registeredparamedic for Prince William CountyDepartment of Fire and Rescue in NorthernVirginia. Brian is currently assigned to theFire Marshals office but remains active withthe water rescue group in the county. He isalso a Swift Water Rescue Instructor forRescue 3 International. He holds a Bachelorsof Science from Virginia Tech and a Mastersof Public Administration from George MasonUniversity. (Workshop Swift/Flood 1)

J. R. Frost is an Information Technology andSearch Planning specialist in the U. S. CoastGuard Office of Search and Rescue. He is the Program Manager for the Coast Guard’sSearch and Rescue Optimal Planning System(SAROPS), a tactical decision aid used toplan searches for distressed persons and craftat sea and on the Great Lakes. Mr. Frost hasmore than 30 years experience in the searchand rescue field, including a great deal ofexperience in applying information and computer technology to the search planningproblem. (Workshop Swift/Flood 8)

Pete Gannon retired as a Battalion Chief ofLauderhill Fire Department after 25 years of service where he was also Dive TeamCommander. He is currently acting as DiveTeam Leader at Plantation Volunteer FireDepartment and has been active with thisdepartment for the past 27 years. He has alsobeen active on the Broward Sheriff ’s OfficeDive Team for the past 15 years. He was ayacht captain for 7 years on a 100-foot yachtthat chartered for dive trips in the Caribbeanand Bahamas. He has been a CorporateInstructor with Dive Rescue Internationalsince 1979. Currently, he is the President of Dive Rescue International and is PastPresident of Florida State Fire ServiceInstructors. For the past 1½ years he has beenworking as a Field Examiner for the FloridaState Fire Marshal’s Office. The most recent

award received, among many receivedthroughout the years of his career, and wasthe Robert G. Teather Award for LifelongContributions to the Safety of Public SafetyDivers presented at the IADRS Conference in September 2006. He has also received,after logging over 5100 dives, Pro DiverStatus from SSI. (Workshop PSD 1, PSD 3and PSD 5)

Mark Gibson is the Senior Brand Manager for Humminbird Fishfinders and has workedfor Humminbird for 15 years. He has a BS in Aerospace Engineering and an MBA.Previously, Mark worked for Hughes AircraftCompany in engineering and later as aProgram Manager on the AMRAAM Missile Program. (Workshop PSD 6)

Jerry Gipson (Workshop PSD 9)

Tom Greenhalgh has 26 years of public safety experience having worked in the LawEnforcement, Fire Services, and EMS fields.He currently works as a Police Lt./Paramedicin Billeria, MA. Tom has been involved inpublic safety diving since 1986, serving as the co-founder and team leader for theMerrimack Valley Dive Rescue Team in MAas well as a Corporate Trainer for Dive RescueInternational. Tom is the Executive Directorfor National Public Safety Solutions Inc., anon-profit organization serving various pubicsafety needs. He serves as the Co-Director forthe Greater Lowell CISM Team and is a staff member at the On-Site Academy inMassachusetts, a residential treatment facilityfor public safety personnel dealing with chal-lenges surrounding personal and work-relatedstress issues. Tom is a Faculty Instructor withthe International Critical Incident StressFoundation and is a certified trainer in anumber of disciplines, including the “GriefFollowing Trauma” specialty. (Workshop PSD 7)

Robin Habeger is a NASAR Lead Evaluatorand has been involved in K9 SAR since 2001.She currently serves on the NASAR K9Committee, the SARDUS Board of Directorsand is the Executive Director of the Paws ofLife Foundation. Robin and her operationalK9, Talyn, are deployed through STAR 1Search and Rescue (IA), Iowa Task Force 1and Central Iowa Underwater Search andRescue. In training are K9 PoL Moses fordisaster and K9 PoL Winnie for HRD.Robin works at the Iowa State UniversityFoundation as a development officer. (SAR DOG 2)

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responsible for operational management forthe Medic Alert + Alzheimer’s AssociationSafe Return® program, a national identifica-tion, support and enrollment program thatworks at the community level to provide assis-tance and medical information when a personwith dementia wanders or becomes lost.Kristy also develops training programs andoutreach initiatives aimed at educating emer-gency responders, caregivers, providers andthe public on safety issues for people withdementia. (Workshop Gen/Med/Mgt 6)

Robert J. Koester first joined the AppalachianSearch and Rescue Conference in 1981 andhas participated in hundreds of searches. Heholds a Master of Science degree in biology(neurobiology) from the University ofVirginia. He has contributed seminal researchon lost person behavior, with emphasis ondementia, and created the InternationalSearch and Rescue Incident Database(ISRID). A type one incident commanderand instructor for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) andpresident of the Virginia Search and RescueCouncil, Robert has also worked for theUnited States Coast Guard, NationalAeronautics and Space Administration,National Park Service, and FederalEmergency Management Agency. He is theauthor of numerous books and articles onsearch and rescue. He is currently working on starting the International Journal of Search and Rescue. Robert has presented inAustralia, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and across the UnitedStates. (Workshop Gen/Med/Mgt 8)

Allen Lawrence has served as the Advisor and Operations Leader for Arkansas ExplorerSearch and Rescue, Crew 393, for the past sixteen years. He serves as a NASARSARTECH Lead Evaluator for SARTECHIII, II, and I. He teaches several subjectsrelated to SAR and EMS and has traveled to many states teaching classes and offeringSARTECH exams. Allen has been activelyinvolved in the Boy Scouts of America forover forty years. He is an advocate for theinvolvement of youth in Search and Rescue.(Workshop Gen/Med/Mgt 7)

George Lewis is a retired Fairfax County, VAFirefighter. He spent 21 of his 26 years at theGreat Falls station, which handled a signifi-cant number of water and rope rescues.George developed Fairfax County’s swiftwaterprogram and provided training for its fire-fighters and VATF-1. He is also the founderand Capt. of the Warren County SwiftwaterRescue Team which was Virginia’s first StateResponse Team. George is an Instructor

Agency (PEMA) certificates in emergencymanagement. In 1999, he was appointed tothe board of directors for the local ambulanceorganization and now holds the position ofVice Chairman. He also performs publicspeaking engagements for local communityorganizations on Emergency Management,EMS, and Fire issues. (WorkshopGen/Med/Mgt 4)

Colleen Keller is an Operations ResearchAnalyst at Metron Inc., a scientific consultingfirm with specialties in search theory andplanning. Metron developed the mathemati-cal algorithms used in the USCG SAROPStool. Prior to Metron, Colleen worked eightyears at the Center for Naval Analyses,including four years at operational commandsin the field. She has conducted detailed sce-nario reconstruction and probability mappingusing SAROPS for the private Fossett searcheffort on a volunteer basis and was involved in follow-on search efforts in May ’08 andground search efforts in September ‘08. Sheis an aircraft owner and pilot with over 2000hours of flight time, holds Instrument andCommercial ratings, and an FAA-certifiedAirframe and Powerplant mechanic. She hasa BA (Physics) from Dartmouth College andan MS (Applied Physics) from The JohnsHopkins University. (Workshop Swift/Flood 8)

Charles B Kirmuss is the Director, TrainingOfficer of Rampart/Adams County Searchand Rescue, a retired Engineer/Firefighterand Principal of Kirmuss &Associates/Infinity Advanced Technologies. Charles has been involved in the electronic securityindustry since 1979 and with firefighting andsearch and rescue since 1996. Since 1983, he has been involved in the design anddeployment of radio communications systems and currently is involved in thedeployment of GPS and GIS solutions forsearch and rescue, wildland fire and home-land security applications over two way radio.He started as a firefighter, then pump engi-neer, trainer and now is Director at large forhis SAR group. His passion involves his vol-unteer activities within the SAR sector and hehas been an invited speaker in Mexico and inthe UK discussing USA based SAR opera-tions as well as upcoming technologies.Charles is a participant at many SAR confer-ences worldwide, bringing techniques learnedfrom other groups back to the USA, and shar-ing these with other SAR and first responseteams. (Workshop HLS/USAR/GOV 7)

Kristy Klein is Associate Director of SafetyServices at the national office of theAlzheimer’s Association. In this role, Kristy is

Cody Harris started kayaking in Durango,Colorado at the age of 11. He is a past mem-ber of the U.S. Canoe and Kayak OlympicDevelopment Team and has spent the last twodecades exploring the rivers of North andSouth America. Cody is the Director andLead Instructor for the Whitewater RescueInstitute (WRI). At WRI, Cody leadsSwiftwater Rescue courses throughout theNorthwest. Cody says, “Swiftwater Rescue” is such a dynamic discipline; rivers rarely givethe rescuer the opportunity to feel confident.As soon as you do, something changes—thewater rises, the victim goes heads-down—andyou have to start over. This is what makes itso important to learn the basics. Rivers chal-lenge even the most experienced rescuers. The Whitewater Rescue Institute has taughtcourses to over 200 agencies, from Search andRescue units to the U.S. Forest Service. Codyalso works as an EMT in Hamilton, Montanaand is also a ski-patroller and boatman on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. He also teaches wilderness first aid for AerieBackcountry Medicine and is a volunteer for the Missoula County Search and Rescue Team. (Workshop Swift/Flood 9)

Fred L Halley, Jr. has been involved in EMS for 31 years and has been certified as a New York State Paramedic since 1982.Fred works for Clifton Park & HalfmoonAmbulance in Clifton Park, New York and is a member of the NYS Federation of Searchand Rescue. Fred also is a member of hislocal SAR team, NorthEast Mobile SearchAnd Rescue where he concentrates his skillsin radio communications, computer map-ping, and SAR education. (WorkshopGen/Med/Mgt 1)

Mark Jones has been a state-certified paramedic since 1982 with local volunteerambulance and rescue organizations. He was a Clinical Associate and Instructor forAdvanced Cardiac Life Support and BasicTrauma Life Support for the Center forEmergency Medicine for WesternPennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh andwas an instructor for paramedic courses atseveral local hospitals. He held offices in thelocal volunteer ambulance and rescue organi-zation from 1981 to 1995 and was Chief of the service from 1985 through 1989. He holds state certificates in HazardousMaterials, Vehicle and Special Vehicle Rescue and Fundamentals of Fire Fighting.Governor Casey appointed him to the position of Emergency ManagementCoordinator for the Borough of White Oakin 1992. He holds several Federal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA) certificates andseveral Pennsylvania Emergency Management

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(veterinary medicine), and a Ph.D. in physiol-ogy (specialization in neurophysiology). Heset out at the time of his master’s degree toearn degrees that would cover most of themajor issues of detector dog use. In 1982,Larry joined the faculty of the College ofVeterinary Medicine at Auburn Universityand began his research on detector dogswhich he continues to this day.

Much of Larry’s early work dealt with the sen-sory capacity and behavior of dogs. In 1984,his emphasis became broader when he was apanelist for the Department of the Armyexamining detection of landmines by dogsand other animals. In 1989, Larry foundedthe Institute for Biological Detection Systemsat Auburn University, becoming its first direc-tor. He held that position until 1995. Duringthat time, he was extensively involved in stud-ies on the behavior and sensory capacity ofdogs, in evaluating the effectiveness of doghandler teams and programs both domesticand international. Since that time, he hasfocused his efforts on methods to determinetheir true reliability and to determine factorscontributing to reliability or lack thereof.(Workshop SIG 1)

Robert J. Noziska currently is an Operator forthe Headquarters/Special Operations Groupfor the United States Border Patrol. For thepast 10 years, he has been assigned to the spe-cial operations unit known as BORSTAR(Border Search Trauma and Rescue).BORSTAR is a national search and rescueteam with extensive training and experiencein areas such as air operations, land naviga-tion, technical rescue, and medical. AgentNoziska was instrumental in the implementa-tion of the BORSTAR Canine Program forthe United States Border Patrol in 2001. This is the only SAR Canine Program withinthe Border Patrol and is being implementedon a nationwide basis. A certified SARcanine handler and SAR Canine Instructor,Agent Noziska has been involved in the training of all BORSTAR K9 teams assignedto BORSTAR since its inception. AgentNoziska and K9 Chelsea have assisted inapproximately 30 life saves, 10 recoveries, and 900 apprehensions while working ininclement weather or terrain. These statisticswere achieved primarily through the use offorward and backtracking techniques. Robert is a NASAR K-9 SARTECH III Lead Evaluator and Master Trainer for NorthAmerican Police Work Dog Association. In addition, Agent Noziska has given presen-tations on numerous canine topics nationally,strengthening existing SAR K-9 Teams.(Workshop SAR DOG 3, 4 and 5)

Cordage Institute, NFPA, ASTM, and others. A frequent presenter and instructor,Loui has authored numerous articles and texts on the subject of safety at height and rescue, with contributions to High AngleRescue Techniques, Wilderness Medicine,Occupational Health and Safety, and Fire-Rescue. Loui presently serves as Vice-President of Pigeon MountainIndustries, a manufacturer/distributor of life safety equipment for rescue and work at height. (Workshop Tech 8 and 9)

Mark McEntire (Workshop PSD 9)

Philip Miller has been with Prince WilliamCounty VA Fire and Rescue since 1998. Heis a Rescue 3 Instructor for water and ropeteaching with the Rescue 3 VA group. Philtook his first water rescue class in 1999 andwas assigned to a station with water rescueresponsibilities for 7 years. He is currently a fire fighter/medic working on a transportALS unit but remains active with the countywater group. This is also Phil’s 2nd year ofbeing the Swift Water/Flood Track Leader for the NASAR conference. (WorkshopSwift/Flood 1)

Steve Miller (Workshop Swift/Flood 4)

Fred Mullen has been the Franklin County Arkansas Emergency ManagementCoordinator since 1999. The County SARteam is under his division and was started in2002. The team currently has 32 memberswho perform wilderness ground, some techrescue and urban missing person response.Fred says, “We are extremely fortunate tohave dedicated volunteers and paid profes-sions come together for effective SARresponse in our County. I am especiallyproud of the relationship we have among ourlaw enforcement officers, EMS and the vol-unteer agencies.” The Franklin County SARteam started the Northwest Arkansas SARAcademy in 2006. In 2008, the Academyfeatured 21 speakers and offered its firstNASAR certified class to the 131 attendees.Serving as Chairperson for the ArkansasDepartment of Emergency Management firstSAR Committee, Fred has concentrated onacquiring funding for local SAR Teamsthrough DHS Grant Program. Fred’s back-ground is in real estate, retail and farming.He is an avid reader and collector of bookswith over 6,000 volumes in his private library.Fred presented SAR topics at ADEM confer-ences, an Arkansas APCO conference, CAPand at the 2007 NASAR Conference inCharlotte. (Workshop Gen/Med/Mgt 5)

Dr. Larry Myers holds a B.S. degree inwildlife ecology, an M.S. degree in zoology(specialization in ethology), a D.V.M. degree

Trainer with Rescue 3 International and hasbeen teaching with them since 1994. Georgealso owns and operates Rescue 3 Virginia.(Workshop Swift/Flood 3)

Teresa MacPherson has been involved in SARsince 1990 and has certified multiple dogs inwilderness, disaster, and human remainsrecovery and water search. Teresa and hercanine partners have responded to hundredsof searches including many disaster missions.This includes the 1995 OKC bombing of theFederal Building and recently HurricaneKatrina in 2005. Her wilderness and humanremains search experience includes numerousresponses to call-outs requested by the FBI,Secret Service and State and local law enforce-ment agencies. She current handles three dogs- Georgia (9 years), operational in disastersearch, wilderness search and human remainsrecovery; Banks (4 years) operational in disas-ter search and Keys (2 years) in training forwilderness and human remains. Teresa alsoevaluates and instructs on a local, state,national and international level. Her interna-tional travels to instruct include Turkey, theUnited Kingdom and Brazil. She is currentlya member of the FEMA Search WorkingGroup and Chair of the FEMA Canine Sub-Group. She is also a member of the NIMSWorking Group, developing credentialing cri-teria and resource typing. As a member of theUnited Kingdom Canine Working Group,Teresa assists in the development of standardsfor their canine program. Other membershipsinclude Scientific Working Group on Dogand Orthogonal Detector Guidelines (SWG-DOG), Virginia Search and Rescue DogAssociation (VSRDA) and Search and RescueDogs of the United States (SARDUS).(Workshop SAR DOG 1)

Paul Martin has been active with Search andRescue since 1997 and was a K-9 handlerwith the Washington County Sheriff ’sDepartment from 2000-2007. Since 2000,Paul has specialized in human remains detec-tion and has taught for various seminars,workshops and teams. Paul has served as aland cadaver evaluator for various certifyingorganizations. Currently, Paul is working withhis third K-9 Partner, a black lab namedJordan. Paul works as a head Wilderness FieldInstructor for a wilderness therapy program inthe mountains of North Carolina. (WorkshopSIG 7)

Loui McCurley has over 20 years experience intechnical rescue, fall protection and work atheight. Specializing in rapid, small-teamtechniques, Loui consults to several life-safetyoriented standards-setting organizationsincluding ANSI Z359, ISO, FEMA/NIMS,

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Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service andtheir regional partners. He will present hisperspectives and lessons learned for thisunusual event. (Workshop Swift/Flood 4)

Norm Rooker, known variously as the CodeWarrior and the 911 Cowboy, has beeninvolved in EMS and Rescue since 1973. His career has covered numerous venues from the City of St. Louis to the streets of San Francisco ranging from standard EMS and supervision to Special Operationsincluding structural collapse rescue,SWAT/Tactical EMS, surf rescue swimmerand rope rescue geek, among others.Currently he is the Chief of Ouray CountyEMS in southwestern Colorado. He is a pastmember of the NASAR Board of Directorsand a founding member of the InternationalAssoc. of EMS Chiefs where he currentlyserves as the Rural EMS Chiefs section head. (Workshop Tech 2)

Trey Smith serves as a Captain on Ladder One in the Charlotte, NC Fire Department.He leads a variety of challenging "scenario-based" fire and technical rescue coursesoffered through his training company RescueNorth Carolina. (http://rescuenc.com). In addition to an A.A.S Fire Science degree, Trey is also a Summa Cum Laudegraduate of the University of Maryland with a B.S. Fire Science and minor in Public Fire Protection Management andAdministration. He recently became a student of the Oklahoma State University'sFire and Emergency Management graduatedegree program. Trey was instrumental in developing a Flood Awareness andCommunity Training program (F.A.C.T.) for his department and has served as a Rescue 3 International Swiftwater Rescue and Technical Rope Rescue Instructor for 12 years. He specializes in delivering nightrescue swimming and rafting operations in his SRT Advanced courses. He has alsoserved as a raft guide with the U.S. NationalWhitewater Center in Charlotte. (WorkshopSwift/Flood 6)

Eric J. Steward, Lt Col, is the Director of theNational Search and Rescue School, InlandSearch and Rescue Planning Course, USCoast Guard Training Center, Yorktown, VA.He is responsible for theory development andcourse management in support of the InlandSAR Region. He serves as the lead instructortasked with teaching advanced SAR theoryand concepts applicable to both overdue air-craft and missing person environments. Hisstudents include DoD, Federal, State, Local,and volunteer SAR professionals as well asInternational Military and Civil Air Patrolmembers.

in September 2007. Chief Orusa is a frequently invited speaker on public safetyleadership and development techniques. Hehas provided analysis on public safety divingfor USA Today, Fire Chief Magazine, FireEngineering Magazine, Dive Training maga-zine, and has also appeared on MSNBC, FoxNews and CNN to provide expert analysis on dive rescue disaster response. (WorkshopPSD 8)

Dana Kirsch Ray, Major, has been involved in Search and Rescue for over 15 years. Shehas a Master's Degree in learning and brainscience from the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology in Cambridge, MA. She is aNationally Registered Paramedic and workedfor a Fire Department responding to 911calls. She is a private pilot, and has been amember of the Civil Air Patrol - the US AirForce Auxiliary, since 1989. She is currentlythe Squadron Commander at the Palo AltoAirport, and a Civil Air Patrol IncidentCommander. Additionally, she is a NASARcertified SARTECH II, Canine SARTECHII and III, FUNSAR Instructor and workingtowards an apprentice SARTECH IIEvaluator. She has been a Mission Ready K9 handler since 2001 and was an associatemember of the Los Angeles County PoliceCanine Association for 6 years, a member ofthe Santa Clara County, CA Sheriff ’s OfficeSearch and Rescue team and a member oftheir Type 1 Search Team. While workingwith FEMA as Disaster Assistance Employeeduring the 2004 hurricane season in Florida,Dana's team was recognized for developing acomputer database and a process for trackingcontacts with disaster victims. (WorkshopHLS/USAR/GOV 8)

Jim Resnick, Battalion Chief, NREMT-P is a32-year veteran of the Montgomery County,MD Fire Rescue Service; 10 years as a volun-teer and 22 years as a career firefighter andparamedic. He has been involved with theMontgomery County Swift Water teamsthroughout his career. Jim started his careeras a volunteer EMT and paramedic and has served in positions including StationCommander, EMS Duty Officer, PublicInformation Officer, Executive Officer to theOperations Chief, and Director of the Officeof Emergency Management. He has beenIncident Commander on hundreds of majorincidents and dozens of special operationscalls, but never has he seen anything like theSwift Water Rescue event that occurred onDecember 23, 2009 along River Road inBethesda, MD. He is proud to have served asthe Incident Commander of a large and com-plex incident that both challenged and show-cased the dedicated men and women of the

Dan O'Connor is an electric energy forecasterwho holds a BA in Economics from theUniversity of Massachusetts and a Mastersdegree in Public Administration fromAmerican International College. Dan becameinvolved in Search and Rescue while trainingto be an Army Medevac pilot in Vietnam. His very first airborne search was in 1971 for some fellow flight students and theirinstructor who crashed a Huey at night outside Fort Rucker, Alabama. Dan spent 11 months flying in Vietnam and four yearswith Grand Canyon Helicopters flying tours,and as a National Park Service contract pilot,a stint that included numerous searches andrescues inside the Grand Canyon. A contribu-tor to the CASIE search management soft-ware, Dan has taught classes on the programand has operated the software on real andmock search scenarios. Dan is a past contrib-utor to Response Magazine and SAR DogAlert, and was chosen by NASAR to edit thesecond edition of Managing the Lost PersonIncident (MLPI). As a SAR volunteer, Dancontinues to serve as an instructor, directorand treasurer of Northeast Wilderness Search& Rescue (NEWSAR). (WorkshopGen/Med/Mgt 9)

Faith Ortins is an accomplished diver withover 25 years of experience in the publicsafety and technical diving fields. As VicePresident of DUI, she developed DUI’s innovative public safety training program on exposure protection and decontaminationfor public safety divers. DUI continues toexpand its product offerings for public safety divers with its new decontaminationsolutions and systems. (Workshop PSD 2 and PSD 5)

Steve Orusa is a 22-year fire service veteran and is the Deputy Fire Chief for theWaukegan, Illinois Fire Department. ChiefOrusa is the Director of the InternationalAssociation of Dive Rescue SpecialistsResponse Team and Chairman of the IllinoisOffice of the State Fire Marshal Water RescueCommittee. He is the regional team leader forthe Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS)Division 4 & 5 Dive Rescue Team in Lakeand McHenry Counties, Illinois – whichserves a population of approximately one mil-lion people. Chief Orusa is also a CorporateTrainer for Dive Rescue International. ChiefOrusa has a Bachelor of Science in LawEnforcement Administration and is nearingcompletion for a Master of Science degree inHuman Resource Management. He is a pub-lished author with his most recent work being“Dive Rescue Specialist: Operational Trainingfor Public Safety Divers” which was published

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Co nfe re n ce Fac u l t y , V I P s a n d Lo c a l Tea m S u p p o r t

Chris Young has been active in Search andRescue since 1981, managed searches since1986, is the past reserve Captain for theContra Costa County Sheriff ’s Search andRescue Team and serves as chairman of the Bay Area Search and Rescue Council(BASARC). Chris is a member of theAmerican Society of Law EnforcementTrainers (ASLET), an Instructor for the“Direction and Control of the SearchFunction Course” for the State of CaliforniaOffice of Emergency Services since 1989, and an Instructor for the “Managing the Lost Person Incident” for the NationalAssociation for Search and Rescue (NASAR).He also teaches specialized topics in SearchManagement, including Search Managementin the Urban Environment, and Investigationand Interviewing in SAR. Chris has also writ-ten, published and presented search manage-ment papers at NASAR conferences, theWilliam Syrotuck Symposium on SearchTheory and Practice and several State Searchand Rescue conferences on the subject of Search Management in the UrbanEnvironment. He is also co-author of thebook “Urban Search – Managing MissingPerson Searches in the Urban Environment”,published 2007 by dbS Publications.Additionally, Chris is a Level 1 law enforce-ment reserve with the Sheriff ’s Departmentand the City of Danville. (WorkshopGen/Med/Mgt 3)

Assistant Professor, from which post he hopes to rejuvenate SARBayes. (WorkshopGen/Med/Mgt 8)

DJ Walker is a Firefighter with the Austin TX Fire Department assigned to the SpecialOperations Division. His work duties includeresponding to all special rescue responses dur-ing his shift, including: cave, cliff, confinedspace, lost person search, swiftwater, trenchcollapse, structural collapse, and haz-mat. DJis also a Rescue Specialist with the FEMAUSAR team Texas Task Force One. He hasworked as a rock climbing and caving guidesince 2003 for a private high school in Austin. DJ is the South-Central RegionalCoordinator for the National Cave RescueCommission (NCRC), coordinating cave rescue resources and training for the 5 stateregion. He enjoys traveling throughout theUS and Mexico hiking, caving, and rockclimbing. DJ has been a student of rope res-cue since 1998 and regularly attends rescueseminars and conferences around the country.He teaches rope rescue and other rope andmedical related skills for various organiza-tions. (Workshop Tech 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7)

Michael Wiederhold has been training dogsprofessionally for 11 years. He is currently aVice Commander and Training Officer ofSonoran Search and Rescue. He serves on theSonoran K9 training committee. He is aNational Association of Search and Rescue(NASAR) Canine Lead Evaluator for CanineSARTECH I, II and III; HRD and DisasterResponder. On August 1st 2007, he wasappointed as the NASAR Canine SectionChairperson. He has also served on theNASAR Canine Committee as the EducationChairperson. Michael is also an AKC CanineGood Citizen Evaluator. His search dogWicca is certified in HRD for the state ofArizona and certified as a Type 3 Forensic and Type Other Cadaver canine throughNASAR. Wicca is also certified as anOperational Level Wilderness Search Dog forthe state of Arizona and a Canine SARTECHI Area through NASAR. In May of 2008, shealso certified as K9 Disaster Responder forboth live find and forensic human remains.His second dog Kalli recently certified as aCanine SARTECH III Area Search and willbe attempting operational level certificationsshortly. (Workshop SAR DOG 6, 7 and 8)

Eric entered the Air Force in February 1987through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Wittenberg University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science. He completed his Master’s degree in Education Administration from theUniversity of Phoenix in May 2000. His aviation career includes over 3,000 hours ofHelicopter operations with combat sortiesduring Operation Southern and NorthernWatch, commanding flights in the 33rdRescue Squadron and 41st Rescue Squadronand chief Standardization and Evaluation hel-icopter pilot for the 347th wing. Additionally,he has served as chief exercise planner at JointForces Command where he developed, coor-dinated, and executed 6 major exercises forUS Northern Command in direct support of Homeland Defense. Prior to assuming hiscurrent position, Eric served as the AssistantDirector of Operations and Watch Supervisorfor the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley AFB, VA. (WorkshopHLS/USAR/GOV 3, 4 and 5)

John Sullivan attended the University ofMississippi, Ole Miss, where he received a BAin Anthropology and History and his Masters’degree in Archaeology. During his tenure atOle Miss, he spent a lot of time doing archae-ological surveys, assisting professors in run-ning field schools and various other projects.In 2000, he started work at WintervilleMounds Park, newly administered by theDepartment of Archives and History. As SiteArchaeologist his duties included managingthe sites collection, assessing the preservationof the Mounds, helping to develop educa-tional programs for school groups and thepublic. In 2003, he and Paul Martin startedworking on using cadaver dogs as a possiblesurvey tool for archaeologists in locatingNative American burials. In 2008, John leftWinterville Mounds for the Bureau of LandManagement and has exposed the FederalGovernment to the use of cadaver dogs forlocating and avoiding Native American buri-als. (Workshop SIG 7)

Charles Twardy is a Research AssistantProfessor and the principal researcher for theSARBayes project, which aims to create "live"statistical models of lost person behavior thatcan be embedded in search planning software.For his day job, Charles has helped create sta-tistical models for cardiovascular disease risk,water quality in Sydney Harbor, credibilitymodels for human intelligence sources, targetrecognition, and preliminary models for lostperson behavior based on much smallerdatasets. In late 2008, he joined GeorgeMason University's C4I center as a Research