TITLE 10 PUBLIC SAFETY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
CHAPTER 24 SEARCH AND RESCUE
PART 1 CERTIFICATION
FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE PERSONS
10.24.1.1 ISSUING AGENCY: Department of Public Safety.
[10.24.1.1
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.2 SCOPE: This rule applies to all persons who desire
to obtain and maintain a certification with the New Mexico department of public
safety, search and rescue (SAR).
[10.24.1.2
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Section 24-15A-5 NMSA 1978 and Section
9-19-6(E) NMSA 1978.
[10.24.1.3
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[10.24.1.4
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: June 27, 2017, unless a later date is cited at
the end of a section.
[10.24.1.5
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.6 OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this rule is to provide a
system of certification and maintenance of certification of search and rescue
persons.
[10.24.1.6
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.7 DEFINITIONS: In addition to the definitions set forth in
the Search and Rescue Act, Section 24-15A-3 NMSA 1978, the following terms are
defined:
A. Agency administrator
means the chief of the New Mexico state police. The chief may appoint an agency administrator
designee for search and rescue (SAR) matters.
B. Field coordinator
means a SAR person certified by the department of public safety to act as incident
commander for a SAR mission.
C. Incident command system
means a standardized system for the command, control, and coordination of
emergency response operations for search and rescue.
D. Incident commander
means the person within the incident command system officially assigned to
manage a SAR incident.
E. Probation status
means the status of a certification of a SAR field coordinator, incident
command system general staff, or SAR person or volunteer, when the
certification is not current on maintenance of certification requirements, but
is still eligible to meet the requirements at a later time.
F. SAR incident command
system general staff means a SAR person working SAR management under the incident
command system on a SAR mission.
G. SAR resource officer
means the official located within the department of public safety responsible
for coordinating SAR resources and administering the state SAR plan.
H. SAR review board
means the policy advisory committee whose duty it is to evaluate the operation
of the New Mexico search and rescue plan, evaluate problems of specific
missions, and make findings of fact and recommendations to the chief and other
appropriate authorities.
I. SAR person
means a person who volunteers or provides time and equipment to aid in SAR
missions.
J. Section chief
means a person who has the responsibility for a major functional area of a SAR
mission, such as operations, plans, logistics, or finance and
administration. Section chiefs report
directly to the incident commander and are part of the incident command system general
staff.
K. Special operations commander
means the commander of the New Mexico state police special operations bureau.
L. Type means a
graded management system that is based on experience and training for the
selection of a SAR field coordinator or incident command system general staff. The measurement correlates to the level of
complexity of the mission in which a SAR field coordinator or incident command
system general staff may participate, with type I being the most complex.
[10.24.1.7
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.8 SYSTEM OF CERTIFICATION:
A. Certification for field
coordinator:
(1) Certification
is required for SAR persons or volunteers in order to act as field coordinators. To be certified as a field coordinator an
applicant must:
(a) submit
an application with the New Mexico department of public safety;
(b) successfully
complete a SAR management course and other criteria for qualifications as
required by the New Mexico department of public safety;
(c) complete
the training standards for field coordinators which will comprise of a minimum
of 40 hours of training, and may include, but is not limited to, management
of SAR resources, development of goals
and objectives, and search theory applications; and
(d) receive
final approval for certification from the SAR review board and the agency
administrator.
(2) Levels
of certification:
(a) Field
coordinators will be certified as type I, type II, type III or type IV
according to experience and performance.
(b) A
field coordinator will initially be designated as type IV and may advance up to
a type I certification.
(c) The
agency administrator will provide final approval of advancement to higher
certification types.
B. Certification for incident
command system general staff:
(1) Certification
is encouraged and preferred, but is not required, for a person to be recognized
and to act as a SAR incident command system general staff. Additionally, training and certification for section
chiefs may be required in order to be a listed resource in the SAR resource
directory. An applicant wishing to
receive certification as a member of the incident command system general staff
must:
(a) submit
an application supplied by the SAR resource officer;
(b) successfully
complete an incident command system general staff course and other criteria for
minimum qualifications as required by the New Mexico department of public
safety;
(c) complete
the training standards for incident command general staff which will comprise
of a minimum of 16 hours of training, and which may include, but is not limited
to, leadership and supervisory responsibilities, and development of search
strategies and communications; and
(d) receive
final approval for certification from the SAR resource officer and agency
administrator.
(2) Levels
of certification:
(a) Incident
command system general staff will be certified as type I, type II or type III
according to experience and performance.
(b) Incident
command system general staff will initially be designated as type III.
(c) Requests
to advance to a higher certification type will be reviewed and approved by the SAR
resource officer.
C. Certification for SAR
person or volunteer:
(1) Certification
is encouraged, but not required, for a person to be recognized and to participate
as a SAR person or volunteer. To become
a certified SAR person or volunteer, an applicant must:
(a) submit
a questionnaire supplied by the SAR resource officer;
(b) meet
the criteria for minimum qualifications as established by the agency administrator;
(c) successfully
complete training as required by the New Mexico department of public safety;
(d) complete
the field certification training, which will comprise of a minimum of eight
hours of training, and which may include communications, navigation and gear
requirements, and other training as determined necessary by the SAR resource
officer; and
(e) receive
approval for certification by the SAR resource officer and agency administrator.
(2) Levels
of certification: There are no specified levels of certification developed for
the SAR person or volunteer.
D. Levels of certification
established: The agency
administrator may develop additional levels of certification for volunteers
with search and rescue beyond those described above.
E. Training Standards
and Lesson Plans: The search and
rescue resource officer will determine training standards, and will prepare and
update lesson plans for optimal educational teaching effectiveness. The SAR review board will review the training
curriculum and recommend approval to the agency administrator.
[10.24.1.8
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.9 MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATION:
A. Maintenance of certification
for field coordinator:
(1) Annual
maintenance training is required to maintain field coordinator certification.
(2) The
maintenance of certification training programs for field coordinators shall
provide a minimum total of eight hours of training.
(3) Any
field coordinator that is unable to complete the maintenance of certification
training within the year will be placed on probation status and must attend the
next maintenance of certification training provided in order to be removed from
probation status.
(4) If
the maintenance of certification training is not completed within the next 12
months, it shall be basis for removal from the field coordinator position and
from certification as field coordinator.
(5) A
certification that is on probation status is still active and valid unless the
certification is suspended or has been revoked.
B. Maintenance of certification
for incident command system general staff:
(1) Training
is required every three years to maintain incident command system general staff
certification.
(2) The
maintenance of certification training programs for the incident command system general
staff shall provide a minimum total of eight hours of training.
(3) Any
person certified in an incident command system general staff position that is
unable to complete the maintenance of certification training within the year
after it becomes due will have his or her certification placed on probation
status and must attend the next maintenance of certification training provided
in order to be removed from probation status.
(4) If
the maintenance of certification training is not completed within the next 12
months after it is due, it shall be basis for removal from incident command
system general staff certification status.
(5) A
certification that is on probation status is still active and valid unless the
certification is suspended or has been revoked.
C. Maintenance of certification
for SAR persons or volunteers:
(1) Training
is required every three years to maintain SAR person or volunteer
certification.
(2) The
maintenance of certification training programs for SAR persons or volunteers
shall provide a minimum total of two hours of on-line training or in person
training.
(3) If
the maintenance of certification training is not completed within the three-year
period, the certification will be placed on probation status.
(4) If
the maintenance of certification training is not completed within the next 12
months after it is due, it shall be basis for removal from SAR person or volunteer
certification status.
(5) A
certification that is on probation status is still active and valid unless the
certification is suspended or has been revoked.
[10.24.1.9
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.10 ADDITIONAL CERTIFYING ORGANIZATIONS:
This
rule shall not prevent the New Mexico department of public safety from entering
into a written agreement for search and rescue certifications and trainings
through an outside certifying body. The SAR
review board will review the training curriculum and recommend approval to the agency
administrator. That certifying body’s
program for certification, as agreed upon by the department of public safety,
would then take the place of the system of certification or maintenance of
certification within this rule and shall be adhered to by the field coordinators,
incident command system general staff, and SAR person or volunteers.
[10.24.1.10
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
10.24.1.11 DENIAL OF CERTIFICATION,
DECERTIFICATION, AND REVIEW:
A. Denial, suspension,
or revocation of certification: SAR
persons seeking certification as a field coordinator, incident command system general
staff, or SAR person or volunteer may have their request for certification
denied within the discretion of the agency administrator for not having met the
criteria as established in this rule. SAR
persons holding any certification issued by the New Mexico department of public
safety can be decertified, or have their certification suspended, as determined
within the discretion of the agency administrator for lack of compliance with
the standard of care, performance considerations, or improper conduct. Upon decertification, the individual will be
required to return any identification cards and equipment that he or she
possesses that was issued to the individual by the department of public safety
related to that certification.
B. Procedure for denial,
suspension, or revocation of certification of field coordinator, incident command
general staff, or SAR person or volunteer:
(1) A
decision to deny, suspend, or revoke certification will be recommended by the search
and rescue resource officer to the agency administrator through the special operations
commander.
(2) After
reviewing the facts and circumstances, the special operations commander may
accept or reach a different outcome than the recommendation of search and
rescue resource officer.
(3) If
a decision is made to deny, suspend, or revoke a certification, the special operations
commander will issue or have a letter issued to the volunteer whose
certification is impacted.
C. Procedure for requesting
informal meeting:
(1) The
volunteer whose certification is impacted will have 30 calendar days from the
date of delivery to make a written request to the special operations commander
to reconsider the decision to deny, suspend, or revoke a certification. The request shall include the basis for
reconsideration and documents or items to be considered.
(2) After
a written request for reconsideration of the decision is received, an informal
meeting with the volunteer and special operations commander will be arranged to
determine whether to continue with the decision to deny, suspend, or revoke a
certification.
(3) The
decision by the special operations commander will be made within 10 business
days from the date of the informal meeting, unless more time is needed based on
the complexity of the facts and circumstances.
(4) The
decision of the special operations commander to deny, suspend, or revoke
certification will be reported to the SAR review board subsequent to either the
informal meeting or the expiration of time to request an informal meeting, in
the event an informal meeting was not requested.
D. SAR review board review
of denial, suspension, or revocation of certification:
(1) After
the SAR review board receives the decision of the special operations commander
to deny, suspend, or revoke certification, it will make a recommendation to the
agency administrator on a course of action to take regarding the volunteer’s
certification.
(2) A
volunteer whose certification is impacted may make a written request to be
heard by the SAR review board if the volunteer previously requested an informal
meeting and the request is made before a recommendation is reached. The volunteer will be provided an opportunity
to be heard for a period of time as permitted by the SAR review board.
(3) The
agency administrator will have notification sent to the volunteer of the final
decision concerning the matter after having reviewed the facts and
circumstances, along with the recommendation of the SAR review board.
[10.24.1.11
NMAC - N, 6-27-17]
HISTORY OF 10.24.1
NMAC:
[Reserved]