ASTM F2685-07

This guide establishes the minimum standard for training land search team members as it relates to their general, field, and search-specific knowledge, skills, and experience. A person trained to this guide is a Level II land search team member.

Every person who is identified as a Level II land search team member shall have met the requirements of this guide.

This guide is to be used by individuals and agencies having jurisdiction that wish to identify the minimum training standards for Level II land search team members

It is up to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) to determine the depth or detail of training to meet these needs.

Nothing in this standard precludes an AHJ from adding additional requirements for its own members.

This guide by itself is not a training document. It is only an outline of the topics required for training or evaluating a Level II land search team member, but it can be used to develop a training document or program.

This guide does not stand alone and must be used with the referenced documents to provide specific information needed by a Level II land search team member or AHJ.

This guide can be used to evaluate a book or other document to determine if its content meets the necessary topics for training a Level II land search team member. Likewise, the guide can be used to evaluate an existing training program to see if it meets the requirements in this guide.

The knowledge and skills requirements presented in the following sections are not presented in any particular order and do not represent a training sequence.

Except where a physical skill needs to be shown, it is up to the AHJ, instructor, evaluator, or tester to determine the best way to evaluate a person’s knowledge. This may be by written exam, oral exam, demonstration, or by some combination of the three.

1.1 This guide establishes the minimum training standard for Level II land search team members as it relates to their general, field, and search-specific knowledge, skills, and experience.

1.2 A Level II land search team member searches on the surface of the land only. This guide does not provide the minimum training requirements for searching in partially or fully collapsed structures, in or on water, in confined spaces, or underground (such as caves, mines, and tunnels).

1.3 A Level II search team member can be utilized as: a field team leader, a single resource for sign cutting, a hasty searcher, and to establish segments in the field. No knots, rope, litter, or other rescue skills are required of a Level II.

1.4 Level II search team members are eligible to be members of type II search teams or crews as defined in Classification F 1993.

1.5 Type II teams which may utilize personnel trained to this standard are Kind A (wilderness), Kind B (urban), and Kind C (mountainous).

1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory requirements prior to use.

1.7 Further training may be required before a Level II land search team member can actually participate on a particular kind of search team, depending on the authority having jurisdictions regulations or policies.

1.8 Land search team members are categorized by levels in which level one is the basic or entrance level and the numbers increase as the requirements increase.