Skills keep rescuers on the right track

THE idea of tracking conjures up images of those old western films, with cowboy John Wayne yelling at Indian scouts to find which route the baddies took in their efforts to escape a silver-starred sheriff and other officers of the law.

Tracking is a special skill through which people and animals can be traced by using signs, generally footprints, they leave on the ground and in the surrounding environment.

Even in an age when forensic science, cameras, and helicopters, not to mention mobile phones and radio, are used to trace people in the wilderness, traditional tracking methods are still good to have.

That’s according to the Irish Mountain Rescue Association (IMRA) which has organised what is believed to be Ireland’s first person tracking course for November 9-11, in the Larch Hill scout centre, Tibradden, Dublin.

The country’s 12 rescue teams are involved in scores of missions each year and use the most up-to-date equipment to reach people who are lost, injured, or dead on the mountains. Tracker dogs are also engaged by the teams.

Tracking in search operations can best be defined as an attempt to find and then follow signs — not always limited to footprints — left by a missing person. Any type of physical evidence can provide essential information that can be interpreted by expert trackers.

As a field skill, tracking necessitates a lot of deductive reasoning and interpretation.

“These skills only develop by practise over hundreds of hours which requires patience, patience and even more patience,” explained IMRA spokesman Gerry Christie.

“The truly effective tracker is one that understands the local environment quite well and knows what the different signs indicate. Trackers often find signs that other searchers do not see or fail to recognise and should be involved in early search decisions.” A tracker will often look at the ground and say, “that does not belong, it does not look right”.

According to Mr Christie, trackers are seldom in on the actual find, but their skill and field craft has led to many finds of missing persons by the clues and the facts they uncover during operations. They are an integral and essential part of any truly effective search and rescue team, he emphasised.

To the tracker, footprints indicate the direction of travel, the number of persons moving in a general direction and their gender and behavioural characteristics. For example, long and deep tracks tell of fast movement; very long strides with toes deeper than heels indicate running; deep, short and wide-spaced footprints provide evidence of carrying a heavy load. Tracking is still practised in America where Tom Brown Junior is regarded as the most renowned tracker and wilderness survival expert. He has devoted his life to educating people in the skills of tracking, wilderness awareness and survival.

Mr Brown draws from the native American lifestyle and philosophy based on oneness with nature. Survival skills are also important to him, including techniques for building shelter, collecting water, making fire and trapping animals.

Meanwhile, IMRA has issued some timely advice to people going hill walking in the winter. First thing to be aware of is greatly diminished daylight and the need to set out early and to be back at base well before darkness.

Do not go to the hills alone.

Always get a weather forecast, take it seriously, and if it’s unfavourable don’t ignore it.

Lack of adequate navigational skill is the biggest contributor to mishaps in the hills. Know where you are and how to get to your intended target safely.

Plan your route carefully. Don’t exceed the abilities of your party with regard to endurance or navigation.

Always let somebody know of your intended route and stick to it. If safely down, but somewhere other than anticipated, a phone call can avoid unnecessary anxiety and a possible needless mountain rescue callout.

Carry appropriate equipment and know how to use it. Include warm drinks, a torch and plenty of food and spare clothing.

Remember it is much colder at altitude and that if not actually frozen and icy, the hills are very greasy, wet and slippery. Slips are the immediate reason for most injuries sustained in the hills.

When frozen, the mountains are treacherously icy and extremely dangerous. Without specific winter mountaineering equipment and the ability to use it properly and effectively, don’t even think of going to the high hills.

Don’t assume that you will have mobile phone coverage. A “mobile” is not a substitute for skill or ability, warned IMRA.