NH Statewide SAR Training - Line Search Session and people with Special Needs

Line searching sounds simple: form a line and walk through an area looking for a missing person. In practice, it requires diligence to maintain the line structure, navigate thick brush and uneven terrain and continually search for not just people but clues they may have left behind — a hat, glove, or other item.

Effective line searching requires teamwork, communication and careful attention to the search area. Training on these fundamentals helps ensure that our team can search systematically and thoroughly.

In a session later that day, we also learned about searching for a person with special needs. Some may not respond when called by name.

For more on line searching, including how we use CalTopo  to track searched areas, see https://www.lrsar.org/updates/training-line-searching-may-2026

The images below show teams preparing to enter a wooded area in an organized line as well as the sort of thickly grown area that might require close spacing of the line