When Someone Is Lost

	Unifour K9 Search and Rescue

	Alison Bentley Unifour K9 Search And Rescue Vale, NC 28168 980-241-2547 unifourk9sar@aol.com
Home _ About Us _ Our Mission _ The Dogs _ Law Enforcement _ Search and Rescue _ Water Rescue _ Educational Demos _ Title Holders _ Training Opportunities -- Herding Adventures	When Someone Is Lost There are thousands of lost and missing persons incidents reported every year in the US. These include lost and abducted children, missing outdoor enthusiasts, despondents, Alzheimer patients, boaters, downed aircraft survivors and others. In 2003, there were over 320 missing persons incidents recorded in NC alone. But there were many that never made it into the record books. By some reports in America there are more than 30,000 wandering Alzheimer patients reported missing from their homes or care facilities annually. Only a very few return on their own. Almost half of these critical wanderers may die if not found within the first 24 hours. Many more die in forests and wooded areas. Treat every lost person incident as an Emergency · Immediately contact your nearest law enforcement agency and follow their instructions. · Time is critical and you must be prepared to work quickly. Given the rate at which a person can walk, the search area will expand exponentially with each passing hour. Consider just how many square miles of difficult terrain will have to be searched if the subject is moving at two or three miles per hour, the direction of travel is unknown, and the area of the circle is expressed as A = (3.14)r2. In a very short time, searchers will find themselves having to work a search area of many square miles. Also, consider that a person in wet clothing can succumb to hypotherma within a few short hours in 50 and 60 degree weather. · Refrain from handling the lost person's personal articles, such as clothing or bedding, which may be needed to provide scent articles to our canine teams. Better yet, seal off their bedroom until a search team arrives. · Try to refrain from contaminating the lost person's scent trail, or from destroying footprints or other clues to the person's direction of travel. · You can probably expect the first officials on the scene to do a hasty search. They will look for initial clues and a direction of travel, and quickly cover high probability areas. · Additional resources will be called in if necessary, including search dog teams if requested. · Remember that car exhaust will quickly destroy human scent. Please ask that all motor vehicles be turned off. · Be prepared to respond to your investigator's questions about the lost person's medical history and personal habits, including their level of experience in the outdoors. They will need you assistance in preparing a Lost Person Questionnaire that will give searchers the information they need to do their job. Alison Bentley Unifour K9 Search And Rescue President/Training Coordinator/ Canine Handler 980-241-2547 Vale, NC 28168
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