Search + Rescue

This past weekend, I joined 21 of my fellow Georgia State Defense Force volunteer soldiers at Camp Merrill for Search And Rescue Specialist II (SARII) training.

We slept in tents, enjoying the 36° nights and 70° sunny days in the north Georgia Mountains. We learned. We embraced the suck. We became friends, and leaned on one another to get through the first of six grueling weekends to earn our SAR Tab.

In the attached image, on the left you see my “gear dump”, which consists of 61 specific items that have to go into our “SAR Kit” that we wear every minute of every day for the duration of training.

So, we are taught that “ounces are pounds, and pounds are pain.” We learn that lesson first hand during the “work capacity test”, in which we must walk 2 miles in less than 30 minutes carrying a minimum of 30lbs in our pack.

We’ve known since August that this has been coming. We’ve known since August that we have to have very specific items purchased, configured, packed, balanced, ready to use, and within hand’s reach, because you simply do not know what you will need or when you’ll need it.

But everything has to work exactly when you need it. Knowing that, you make a plan, a list of your gear, where it is, how much of each item you need and have, and exactly how to get to it exactly when you need it.

Sound familiar? That’s how it is when you’re building or moving into a new work facility, knowing without even thinking about it that you are 100% going to need:

• To control who has access to the facility
• To bring blindingly fast Wi-Fi to every square inch
• To cover the important spots with 4k security cameras
• To make your Zoom Rooms or Teams Rooms “CEO proof” (IYKYK)
• To ensure sound privacy between offices and conference rooms

Some of these, you and your coworkers will utilize every day without a second thought (Wi-Fi, card key access, sound masking). Other things, you get nervous about using because you’re not sure if you’re gonna do it right or if that big beautiful TV is going to show your long-awaited PowerPoint perfectly or not! Yay A/V!

But you’ve known for months that you’ll need all of this low voltage service.

Move-in day is coming. Are you prepared? Do you have an LV plan?

If you do, then your “gear list” will enable you to enjoy your new facility like a beautiful autumn morning in the North Georgia Mountains.