Naming Search Teams and Areas¶
A good naming convention is one of the most important practices in Karttahimmeli. Search team name is shown in all entries, location history, and filters at command. Without a consistent convention, command post has difficulty understanding situation.
Team ID¶
Team ID is set when joining operation. Command should define naming convention before search teams start marking or sharing location.
Principles of good team name structure¶
1. Use descriptive prefix, not single letters
| Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|
Dog01 |
D1 |
Foot03 |
F3 |
Car02 |
C2 |
Single letter is ambiguous and may match many unrelated names in search.
2. Use zero-padded numbers
Why zero padding?
With filter search, Foot1 matches Foot1, Foot10, Foot11, etc.
Foot01 matches only values containing 01, not 10 or 11.
Use Foot01, Foot02 ... Foot10 instead of Foot1, Foot2 ... Foot10.
3. Separate search team members with slash
If multiple people in same search team use Karttahimmeli, routes get mixed if they have exactly same ID.
Recommendation: add initials or other unique token after slash:
Dog03/tk
Dog03/ah
Then searching Dog03 shows all members of that search team.
Start only after ID is known
Do not start markings or location sharing before you know command-approved ID. Wrongly named entries are almost impossible to fix afterwards.
Area naming¶
Same principles apply to area naming:
- Use zero-padded numbering:
A01,A02notA1,A2 - In phase naming use two letters rather than one:
phaseAA,phaseAB - Area name does not need method (e.g.
sweep), put that in extra info
Extra info for areas¶
Area extra info can include for example:
- Special terrain notes
- Search Team instructions: "Start from north, pay special attention to ditches"
- Search Team after-action comments: "Area covered, snow to mid-calf"
Remind search team about extra info
It is good to mention separately to team lead if area has instructions in extra info. Otherwise they may be missed.