3.2.CORE SKILL 1 – VISUAL SEARCH
Image 1. Visual detection to locate an IED inside a building. Note that the visor has been deliberately raised and will be lowered prior to carrying out any further actions
The MA sector’s experience has shown that IEDs, and other EO, can be detected at the earliest opportunity through good visual search techniques. The probability of early identification is greatly increased when staff conducting searches have been provided with detailed technical information on the IED components (colour, material, markings) that are likely to be present, how devices have been constructed and how they have likely been emplaced. This early method of detection means that follow- on intrusive procedures can be minimised and / or conducted in the safest way possible. Visual search techniques are therefore one of the single most important skills for MA staff carrying out manual searches for IEDs and should never be underestimated. They are not a haphazard ‘look’, but detailed systematic observations in the near, mid and long distances; to the peripheries; at high and low levels; and into cavities or recesses, from a safe area.
ׁ HINT. It can be useful for a searcher to visualise a grid formation of near left and right and far left and right, with the visual search commencing with near left to right, then far right to left.
Search core skills and procedures
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