Leisa Hurst Search #2

I had the opportunity to work with the San Bernardino County Emergency Communications Service (SBCECS) to provide radio communications for a ground search activity. 

We were conducting a second ground search for evidence or clues regarding Leisa Ann Hurst, a missing 30-yr old mother of two from Barstow, CA.  I was impressed by their efficiency and professionalism, and I believe some of their procedures are worthy of imitation.

 

The victim, Leisa Hurst, a 30 year old mother of two, was last seen on January 22, 2009, dropping her children off at school in the morning.  Foul play was suspected.  The male suspect, allegedly involved in a romantic relationship with her, is now in custody.

 

A first family-organized search for clues had been conducted on February 7^th, which, although improvised, still covered a large area and had over 175 volunteers participating. It was a loose family-organized search, with the Barstow PD assisting in an advisory role. A friend of the family had some FRS-capable radios which were distributed to the teams.  Many people brought all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) out to help with the desert search.

 

The second search was scheduled for two weeks later, which provided time to request other resources, like the SBCECS. A non-profit search organization, Trinity Search & Recovery, had been contacted by the family and would organized the search.  Trinity has had experience handling many search missions and brought skills of resources, organization, management, and reporting to the aid of the families.

 

There was also a food truck from a local church organization which served a chicken soup lunch, and egg burritos for breakfast. Volunteers from off-road associations helped, and a group of a dozen ‘Hummers’ were there. Another private company brought a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone, which was remotely piloted above one of the search area, taking high resolution pictures of the ground, and logging a GPS track.  Quite interesting.

 

Being close to the families, I inquired how to ask for mutual aid communications support, and was advised to contact a neighboring agency with information in the Yellow Book.  I made contact and sent some information, and was told they would look into helping and request approval.

 

I was contacted soon after by Tracy Lenocker, Captain of the Central Mountain ECS team, who said his group would be helping out.  They were classifying their involvement as a training exercise for his group.

 

I was relieved when I heard they would help.  They had resources including portable repeaters, frequency access, trained personnel, self-sufficient operations, and even satellite phone access if requested.  I assured the families that they would have a solid communications network, and it worked out very well.

 

The ECS team arrived with Chevy Blazer-type vehicles with hatch-backs that opened to reveal rear-of-vehicle communications consoles.  They had three vehicles which backed-in to park (for quick getaways), which created a good communications setup under an Easy-Up with portable tables and chairs.  They also had a portable mast/tripod with antenna for back-up in case the repeater setup failed for some reason.

 

As far as the communications plan, it was decided to ask for permission from a local repeater owner to use the Victor Valley repeater for amateur use, which had good coverage where the search area would be.  There was also good cell phone coverage, and this was designated as a backup method.  Because many volunteers had FRS radios, a cross-band system was set up with a mobile unit and antenna atop a local mountain repeater site tower, repeating the general-use frequency over to the output of a county OES repeater frequency which ECS had pre-programmed into their radios. 

 

Interestingly, later in the afternoon, we heard other distant search operations in progress in the Mt. Baldy and Chino area, since the county OES repeaters all shared the same output frequency, but different input tones based on geographic location.

 

Procedurally, the group was highly trained and organized.  They had individual roles assigned to handle radio operations, radio traffic logging, equipment check-out, and roll-call tracking also.

 

After the search teams were dispatched, the operators conducted roll-calls of the teams on the hour and half-hour, with odd-numbered teams on the hour and even-numbered teams on the half-hour.  They tracked check-ins on a dry-erase board, and it was easy to visually see which teams maintained good communication.

 

Having two nets, an amateur and an FRS, was helpful to main contact with over 20 search teams in different modes.  Four-wheel drive vehicles, ATVs, foot searchers, and even an unmanned aerial drone were among the assets used for the search.

 

The ECS, as well as the search & recovery management, used pre-filled ICS forms for the activity, which were later submitted to Barstow PD to go in the case file.

 

Another interesting element was sending cell phone pictures.  Search teams were instructed to take a picture of any potential clues in the field with their cell phones and text them back to the assigned command post cell phone.  I ended up receiving, tracking, and logging the pictures and showing them to the supervisor.  Sometimes, a rover unit would be dispatched for further investigation of the location.  Items included old pieces of clothing, disturbed dirt areas or mounds of dirt, although none proved significant to the investigation.

 

As with any activity, there often are lessons learned.  One need ECS recognized was to have a second call logger assigned for the second channel.  Often different traffic calls came through on the two frequencies, and one call logger had a hard time logging both sets of information at once.  Next time they will assign individual scribes to each channel’s traffic. 

 

I noticed the roll-call table drawn on the dry-erase board was very helpful to organize the hourly check-ins and visually identify which teams we had contact with.  These two aspects of documentation assignments and team/resource tracking are worthy of imitation and should be considered when activated and supporting numerous units in the field.

 

Although no significant clues regarding the victim’s disappearance were discovered, the operation was a great success and an encouragement to the families.  Statistically, 276 volunteers participated, in over 20 search teams, logging around 2,500 volunteer man-hours and 2,000 specific search man-hours.  It was amazing to see how many groups came to help out in the family’s time of need.  A great show of support and volunteerism.

Search for Leisa Ann Hurst - #1

Please see the blog "LeisaHurst.worpress.com" for more detailed information and updates.

This first family-organized search was hastilly organized yet well-supported and was operationally successful with minimal organization.

There were about 176 volunteers who showed up, a couple dozen ATVs, 3 horses, and two dogs!

New Year's Eve in Times Square

I had a great trip to Chicago, IL, and New York, NY over the 2008 holidays, and yes, I was in Times Square on New Year's Eve.  It was fun being in the wind and cold and experience what a real winter is like compared to CA.  Riding the subways was a blast.

Joining the Orange County Red Cross

After my experiences with the hurricanes in the gulf, I decided to join the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross.  I joined the Communications team which uses amateur and commercial frequencies and systems to help with chapter operations, specifically, radio communications from remote shelters back to headquarters.  I also recently joined the Disaster Action Team (DAT) to be available for 24-hour call-outs to assist clients, for example, if a residential fire displaces a family.

Hurricane Gustav Preparations - An Abrupt Reminder to Be Prepared

I was in the Dallas area this weekend at a singles conference with my church, when an announcement was made on Sunday they were looking for volunteers to help out at Red Cross chapters/shelters for Hurricane Gustav relief efforts.

A few dozen people showed interest, and I hooked up with some friends with a car, and we drove down to the Dallas Chapter of the Red Cross.

We left around 4:30pm and got there sometime after 5pm.

I went in one of the meeting rooms that looked like it was setup like an EOC with table stations around the room and coded-signs above the stations.

We checked in, and then suddenly one of the women in charge announced that she needed volunteers right away to help setup a headquarters and ‘pull CAT-5 cable.”

Some of use joined in, and we gathered in the parking lot and were to follow a big equipment truck about 35 miles away to the new headquarters location.

I learned that they were rapidly outgrowing their available space and had to go to a new location.

(I did run into another Red Cross volunteer who was a Ham - callsign embroidered to his shirt - and we exchanged brief ’shop-talk’ comments about what model radio we used, as we were getting into vehicles.)

(I had actually brough a handful of FRS radios in my luggage, which I got out and gave to the drivers of the volunteers, so we could stay in touch while caravaning to the new location.)

We were following the IT guys who had computer equipment and a server.

We were in Dallas and made our way to just West of Fort Worth.

After searching for the right address location upon arrival, we were told that we would be in an empty warehouse ‘over there’, which used to be a Wal-Mart.  I later found out that Red Cross has a standing nationwide agreement with Wal-Mart, who will provide resources like supplies or available unused buildings, in case of emergency need.  Now I know how Red Cross gets all their supplies so quickly!

We got inside the warehouse, which was completely empty and a little dusty, and talked about the game plan.

First we unloaded the cargo truck, which had lots of equipment in Pelican cases of various sizes and colors.

All the cases were coded, like CBL-049 for a network cable kit, or ATT-051 for something like ATT cell phones or IP phones or something.

I was impressed by the organization seen in their inventory; seems like the Red Cross has caches of equipment in distribution warehouses or something.

We had over a hundred Dell laptops, all in multiple Pelican cases.

Each laptop had a ziplock bag with mouse, mousepad, power cord, etc.

You’ll see a picture of a portable server in two pelican cases.

It was mounted inside the case with what looked like rubber isolation mounting or something.

Some people set up the “VSAT”.  There was a dish placed outside which I didn’t see, and the controller computer in orange cases ( I think I attached a picture).

One of the cases had “WLNK” on it, which I confirmed stood for Win-Link, which someone said was the accepted standard or something.  I would have wanted to learn more how they used that.

There were “Cable Kits”, “Power strip kits” (handfulls of power strips), Extension cable kits, etc.  The cable kit had lots of CAT-5 cables of various lengths in it.

I think we had 6 to 8 network switches in a few cases as well.

The Response Technology person had a sketched map of where to place the tables for the various departments or stations.

There were interesting Red Cross protocols also.

First, all cables were to be suspended so there would be now trip-hazards.  Strong wire would be hung between the vertical load-bearing poles of the warehouse, and the power cords and network cables would be hung from them.  The went to the store to buy plastic shower-curtain hangers to run the cables though.

CAT-5 cables were not to run underneath the table legs, but along the outside of the legs and twist-tied together.  Cables run under table legs could cause problems in case you wanted to move a computer or a table quickly.

I had to string out some cable from the VSAT to the Server, and they said to run a second “B” line for redundancy in case of failure.  We also labeled the ends for the A and B cables, but not too close to the end, about 2 feet from the end - in case it had to be re-terminated then you wouldn’t have to cut off the label also.

I was impressed at the workload assignments.  When asked if anyone had experience terminating cable, two raised their hands, and they were Not chosen.  Everything had special instruction sheets, and those with no experience were chosen for the task.  I saw how the Red Cross understands the majority of their workers would be volunteers with unrelated experience, and they take this into account, and assign two or three people to a task (not too many which creates confusion), give them instructions, and let them go.  I saw how they had faith in the volunteer to get the job done.

We ended at 10pm sharp, since they had a new rule that nobody would work ‘all night long’.  Some people would return in the morning at 8am to continue the work, but I had to return with my friends to the hotel.

It was a neat to see how the Red Cross deployed, their organized inventory methods, their wisdom in network setup, and trust and reliance on the volunteer to get the job done.

It’s good that GUSTAV was only at a Category 2 when it hit land, although I hear that power and communication lines are still down.

Oh, lastly, some funny lessons I learned:

- Keep a change of clothes in a separate spot (or ziplock bag) aside from my vacation clothes.  I hadn’t brought any work pants, like BDUs, and wish I had.  All the clothes in my luggage were dirty and wished I had a clean pair!

- Have reliable navigation and power at all times.  Though I had brought my car gps unit with me, the battery was old and couldn’t run long without plugging in. 

- Have an emergency fund in case of things.  I had to spend extra money getting another room at the hotel and changing my flight itinerary, but I felt it was worth it to spend the money and serve in this way, and I could afford the extra costs.

TT