Hazard – Lack of co-ordinated search plan: All searches
Control Measure Knowledge
Fire and rescue services may need to search for people in a variety of settings; this may involve wide area searches.
Additional hazards for specific search environments are provided in:
- Lack of co-ordinated search plan: Outdoor searches
- Lack of co-ordinated search plan: Unstable or collapsed structures
- Lack of co-ordinated search plan: Mode of transport
The lack of a co-ordinated search plan may present hazards including:
- An increased time taken to locate people, resulting in:
- A deterioration in the condition of casualties
- Needing to search in reduced visibility
- Needing to search in worsening weather conditions
- A delay in finding people, which allows time for them to move away from their last known position (LKP); they may move due to factors such as:
- The impact of the incident, such as firespread or flooding
- Confusion
- Seeking assistance
- An increased time to complete the search of an area, as a result of:
- Duplication of effort, with the same area being unnecessarily searched more than once
- Areas being searched out of sequence or being missed
- Difficulty in managing resources and equipment when searching, which could result in:
- Deploying resources to search for people who have already left the area or building
- Withdrawing resources from the area or building while people are still unaccounted for
- Having insufficient resources or equipment to achieve the search plan