A technical search specialist in a training once remarked that his job was a little like the popular children’s books “Where’s Waldo”; only with life and death consequences. The key, as he stated, is to be able to visually scan a scene with a victim location camera inserted into a void space and identify what seems out of place with the surroundings. This out-of-place visual detail can be key in identifying the presence of a trapped victim.
This is because, in a victim location operation following a building collapse, the technical search specialists rarely have the luxury of discovering a complete human form in the image. Often it is only a small detail or unusual pattern in the visual image that may indicate the presence of a victim. This process can be as difficult as the old saying, “like finding a needle in a haystack”. Collapse rescue–victim location operations can even be described in more challenging language. It can be described as, “like seeing a needle in a haystack” – from 30 feet away! Continue reading “Seeing a needle in a haystack”
