JP 3-50 National Search and Rescue Manual Vol I - US Navy

1000 General
1010 Mission Suspension
1011 Reviewing the Case
1012 Notifying Relatives
1020 Reopening a Suspended Case
1030 Extended Search Operations
1040 SRU Return
1041 SRU Use and Diversion
1042 SRU Debriefing
1043 Interagency Communication
1044 Documentation
1000 GENERAL
CHAPTER 10. SAR MISSION CONCLUSION
Mission conclusion is the final stage of the SAR incident. The
conclusion is successful when the search objectives are have been
located and recovered. The conclusion is unsuccessful when the search
objectives were not located and the SAR mission was suspended.
1010 MISSION SUSPENSION
The decision to suspend a mission is a difficult one. Each SAR
case must be considered on its own circumstances and care should be
taken not to suspend the search prematurely. Prior to suspension, a
thorough case review should be made. The decision to suspend should be
based on the probability of the objective surviving the initial
incident, the probability of survival after the incident, the
probability that the victim was within the computed search area, the
quality of the search effort, and the consensus of several search
planners. The reasons for suspension should be clearly recorded.
1011 Reviewing the Case
The following actions should be part of the case review:
A. Search decisions should be examined to ensure that proper
assumptions were made, and that planning scenarios were reasonable. The
certainty of initial position and any drift factors used in determining
search area should be reconfirmed, and significant clues and leads
should be re-evaluated. Datum computations should be reviewed.
B. The search plan should be reviewed to ensure that:
1. All assigned areas were searched.
2. Cumulative POD and POS are as high as desired.