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

as Rescue Coordination Centers.
Operations Stage: A period during a SAR incident when SAR facilities
proceed to the scene, conduct search, rescue survivors, assist
distressed craft, provide emergency care for survivors, and deliver
survivors to a suitable facility.
Overlap Zone: Area of predetermined width common to two or more service
areas.
PAN: The international radio-telephony urgency signal. When repeated
three times indicates uncertainty or alert, followed by nature of
urgency.
Parachute Drift (dp): The combined drift of parachute glide ratio and
its displacement due to winds aloft.
Planning Stage: A period during a SAR incident when an effective plan of
operations is developed.
Position: Either of two alert solutions representing a geographical
place normally expressed in degrees and minutes of latitude and
longitude.
Positioning: Process of determining a position which can serve as a
geographical reference for conducting a search.
Preliminary Communications Search (PRECOM): Initial limited
communications check, normally directed by the SMC during the
Uncertainty phase, of areas where the missing persons may be.
Primary Radar Return: Radar signal (RF) energy reflected off of skin or
surface of an aircraft.
Primary RCC: Rescue Coordination Center with an associated Search and
Rescue Region into which a position falls.
Primary Swell: The swell system having the greatest height from trough
to crest.
Glos-6