4.1 This guide establishes the minimum knowledge, skills, and abilities that a person must have to perform as a Land Search Team Leader. No other skills are included or implied.

4.2 Every person who is identified as a Land Search Team Leader shall have met the requirements of this guide.

4.3 This guide is to be used by individuals, organizations, and agencies that wish to identify the minimum training required for a Land Search Team Leader.

4.3.1 Determining the requirements and qualifications for team members is the responsibility of the AHJ.

4.3.2 The AHJ shall determine the depth or detail of training required to meet these needs.

4.3.3 Nothing in this standard precludes an AHJ from requiring additional knowledge, skills, or abilities for its members.

4.4 This guide does not stand alone and must be used with the referenced documents to provide specific information needed by an STL or AHJ.

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

4.6 This guide by itself is not a training document. It is an outline of the topics required for training or evaluating a Land Search Team Leader.

4.7 The knowledge, skills, and abilities defined in this guide are not presented in any particular order and do not represent a training sequence.

4.8 A Land Search Team Leader shall document his or her training by completion of a position task book, compliant with Guide F3068, or by field demonstration under qualified supervision.

4.9 Unless stated otherwise, an ability or proficiency in a skill shall be demonstrated for initial qualification and then as often as required by the AHJ.

4.10 Except where a physical skill or ability must be demonstrated the AHJ shall 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 Land Search Team Leaders as it relates to their general, field, and search-specific knowledge, skills, and experience.

1.2 A Land Search Team Leader searches on the surface of the land only, including urban or disaster areas that may be isolated or have lost supporting infrastructure.

1.3 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 in caves, mines, and tunnels).

1.4 No knots, rope, litter, or other rescue skills are required of a Land Search Team Leader.

1.5 A Land Search Team Leader can be utilized as a field team leader, a single resource for sign cutting, a support person for a canine search team, and to establish search area boundaries in the field.

1.6 A Land Search Team Leader is eligible to supervise Type II search teams or crews as defined in Classification F1993. Type II teams which may utilize personnel trained to this standard are:

1.6.1 Kind A (wilderness);

1.6.2 Kind B (urban);

1.6.3 Kind C (mountainous);

1.6.4 Kind J (evidence/cadaver);

1.6.5 King K (missing aircraft).

1.7 Further training may be required before a Land Search Team Leader can participate on a particular kind of search team, depending on the AHJ’s regulations or policies.

1.8 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.