# SAR Field Search Methods: Search Techniques Used by Trained Teams in the Field

> When someone goes missing in the wild, search teams do not just walk in lines across fields. This plain-spoken training article explains six land search methods, from quick checks of the obvious places to sand-filled “track traps” on trails that trackers rake smooth and then read for the lost person’s footprints.

Summary by Kersey Lawrence, Original Wisdom. Updated 9 November 2026. Page: https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/anonymous-sar-field-search-methods/

## Citation and access

- **Authors:** Anonymous
- **Year published:** n.d.
- **Journal or source:** Search and rescue training article (unpublished; no author, date or publisher given)
- **Full citation:** Anonymous. n.d. SAR field search methods: search techniques used by trained teams in the field. Search and rescue training article. 8 pp.
- **Access status:** Publisher link only
- **Where to find it:** https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=SAR+Field+Search+Methods%3A+Search+Techniques+Used+by+Trained+Teams+in+the+Field+Anonymous

## Tags

- **Species:** Humans
- **Tracking:** Tracking; Tracks; Tracks and signs identification
- **Data type:** Protocol or guidelines
- **Observer qualification:** Not needed
- **Discipline:** Human tracking

## Detailed keywords

- **Species:** Humans (lost people as search subjects). No animals discussed.
- **Location and habitat:** No study area or country named. Land searches in woods, open fields, trails, national parks, river and stream banks, cliffs and caves. The units used (miles, feet) and examples suggest North America, but the article does not say so.
- **Topics:** search and rescue (SAR); land search techniques; search areas; Point Last Seen (PLS); Last Known Position (LKP); probability of detection (POD) and cumulative POD; bastard search (checking the obvious places); containment and confinement; hasty search; grid search and searcher spacing; choke point search; track trap search; raking track traps to clear old prints; comparing prints with a known print of the lost person; man tracking and reading sign; clue awareness; using untrained volunteers; evidence searches in criminal investigations.
- **Statistics or models:** None
- **Data type:** Protocol or guidelines: a training article drawing on the writer’s own search experience. No new data, no references.

## Synopsis

### 1. What they did

This short training article explains the most common search methods that trained land search and rescue (SAR) teams use in the field, so that new searchers understand what each team is for and what to watch for when they are assigned to one. It does not cover water, urban or disaster searches. The writer, who does not give their name, draws on their own experience of lost person searches.

It first explains key terms: the search area, the Point Last Seen (PLS), the Last Known Position (LKP) and the probability of detection (POD). It then describes six kinds of search team and the key considerations for each.

### 2. What they found

Key terms

- Point Last Seen: where a witness last positively saw the person, such as a trailhead or parking lot.

- Last Known Position: a newer starting point set by a clue the person surely left. The example given is a unique shoe print that a tracker can find again along the trail or at a stream bed.

- Probability of detection: the chance a search method would find the person if they were in the area. More thorough methods give a higher POD but take longer, and POD adds up over repeated searches, so two quick searches are usually better than one slow one.

Six search methods

- Bastard search: quickly checking the obvious places in case the person was never really lost. Speed, information about the person’s plans and contacts, and leaving a note at their home matter most.

- Containment: posting people along roads, bridges, creeks or open fields so the person cannot travel further without being seen. It suits people with less fitness or mobility, and the team must make sure nobody gets past.

- Hasty search: ten to twelve highly trained searchers move fast in pairs through a high-probability area, checking cliffs, wells, caves and ditches. Trained searchers know how to spot footprints and broken branches quickly. A well-trained team might expect a POD of 30 to 40%.

- Grid search: a line of searchers moving slowly at even spacing, not avoiding thorns or thick cover. It rarely finds the person but finds almost every clue, is very costly in people and time, and is usually the last resort. It is also used to search for evidence and to give large crowds of untrained volunteers something useful to do.

- Choke point search: watching a narrow passage such as a bridge over a large river, more like a roadblock than a search. Choke points are harder to define if the person is avoiding searchers.

- Track trap search: checking places that record anyone passing, such as river and stream banks, muddy or dusty trails, thorn thickets and sand. The writer understands that some SAR teams in areas such as national parks lay sand in low spots on trails as track traps. Trained trackers then compare prints there with a known print of the lost person. Teams may rake track traps before the person could reach them, to remove old tracks. This method needs some skill in man tracking and reading sign.

### 3. What they concluded

- Every searcher’s job is to find the lost person or clues to where they went.

- A solid clue moves the Last Known Position forward, and joining clues together often points straight to where the person will be found.

- Whatever their task, searchers should always watch for clues and report everything they find.

### 4. How tracking was or was not used

No tracking was done; this is a training article. Tracking appears in three places: a unique shoe print, found again along a trail, can set a new Last Known Position; hasty searchers look for footprints and broken branches; and track trap searches rely on trained trackers who check natural or built track traps, compare prints with a known print of the lost person, and rake traps beforehand to clear old tracks. The writer says these teams need some skill in man tracking and reading sign, and that speed and the ability to identify tracks and signs are key.

### 6. Other technologies, skills or innovations

- Radios and vehicles for fast communication with the command post.

- Building track traps by laying loads of sand in low spots along trails.

- Raking track traps before the search to remove old prints.

### 8. Implications for tracking (Original Wisdom's observations)

_These are Original Wisdom's observations, not the authors'._

- The article shows where tracks and signs fit in a search: track traps and a known print of the lost person let trackers confirm that the person passed a point, which narrows the search area.

## Cite this summary

Lawrence, K. 2026. Summary of: SAR Field Search Methods: Search Techniques Used by Trained Teams in the Field (Anonymous, ). Original Wisdom, Tracking Literature. https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/anonymous-sar-field-search-methods/