Tactics
Thorough information gathering
We will collect information thoroughly with the consent of the client and their family.
In particular, we will try to understand the characteristics of the missing person's behavior from the following information:
Personality, occupation, mountain climbing experience, equipment, family structure, weather on and around the day of the accident, whether or not they use SNS, etc.
We may also conduct interviews with mountain buddies and close friends in order to understand more detailed behavior.
The cooperation of family members is essential for collecting information. For more information, please see "Mountain Search and Rescue Flow ③ Requests to families and clients. What should be done immediately."
Visualization and sharing of search status
Visualize the search status. In particular, we take photos during search operations, record walking logs using GPS, and report on search results every time, and share them with the search requester.
Information on search status will be shared with mountain rescue organizations of administrative agencies, including each prefectural police headquarters.
Search by drone
The effectiveness of using a drone will be determined based on the situation on the ground. A drone pilot will always accompany any search where the use of a drone is considered effective.
With permission from the competent government, we will bring a drone to a location where there is a high possibility of discovery and fly low to take photographs in an effort to locate missing persons and belongings.
Our team began operating drones in 2013, and in 2015 we started operating drones to search for missing people.
In 2018, a missing person was discovered through drone video analysis during a search at Mt. Amida in the Yatsugatake Mountains.
This is one of the rare cases in Japan of a missing person being discovered using a drone.
Currently, we have four drone pilots, two of whom are certified mountain guides, and the other two are photographers who specialize in mountain photography.
There are drone operators in various industries in Japan.
In the case of a mountain accident, it is necessary to fly a drone to the site of the missing person, so it is necessary to at least carry the drone to the site, and the pilot must be able to perform mountain climbing and drone operation at a high level.
There are companies that fly drones next to trailheads to search, but their effectiveness is questionable.
Drone searches in mountainous areas or at certain times of the year when trees are thick are also not effective.
Our team carefully judges whether drones are effective or not. If a drone search is not effective, we will not propose a drone search because it will impose unnecessary budgetary burden on your family.
Research and training for effective searches
We research past disaster cases and conduct surveys of each mountain area on a daily basis.
It is basically impossible for the victim to be on the mountain trail.
In particular, many missing people are often found in streams, and the search requires experience and skill in climbing streams.
Our organization regularly provides technical training necessary for searches.
Only members with a certain level of mountaineering experience and climbing ability will be dispatched to search.
Regarding the use of search dogs
Depending on the situation at the scene, search dogs may be dispatched.
Dogs used to search for missing people in the mountains are required to play a different role than rescue dogs at disaster sites.
In the mountains, the dog must find the unknown person by walking through the mountains.
Dogs must have the physical strength to be active in the mountains for long periods of time, the curiosity to respond to and track scents, and the ability to maintain an appropriate distance from their handlers.
A dog's sense of smell is said to be tens of thousands of times stronger than a human's. It is very reasonable to use dogs for searching, as their sense of smell is superior to that of humans. We train our dogs every day to help them reach their full potential.
(For details on the use of search dogs, please see here. https://www.mountain-rescue.net/post/mountian-search-dog)