Search techniques include sign cutting, interviewing and attraction. Today I'll talk about attraction.
ATTRACTION:
This is simply the attempt to enlist the victim's help. Your search and rescue team tries to attract the victim, and invite the victim to do likewise. This technique is based upon the presumption that a missing
person will respond. If your subject is unwilling or unable to respond, your team won't find them unless they are actively looking. So remind your team that they still need to conduct a search of the area.
Attraction involves anything you can think of to get the victim's attention. Yelling names, flashing lights, blowing whistles and anything else your search and rescue team can think of. Remember to tell your searchers to listening carefully and watch for your subject. Keep in mind that if you do attract the victim's attention, the victim must in turn attract you.
Try placing people on adjacent overlooks to catch sounds from different directions. Coordinate your attraction efforts with other teams so that your search and rescue teams are not "attracting" each other.
Find more information about search and rescue techniques from these great books:
Fundamentals of Search and Rescue
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking
