After 50 or so years of S&R, Disaster work and similar stuff, I have worked out a "Notebook Protocol" which I pass on for whatever it is worth.

I use cheap 3x5 notebooks available in bulk packages from office supply stores. I keep a few scattered around in my gear and when "something starts" I grab one.

I put "formal notes" in the front and "scratch notes" in the back. Working each to the other end, writing on only one side of the sheet from each end. I mean I start formal notes from the front and flip the page to the next sheet, not writing on the backs. Eventually the pages fill but it is easy to follow the sequence.

Scratch notes are those scrawls that you make when someone gives you a phone number, frequency, directions or similar. I just scribble the information getting the important stuff down on paper.

The formal notes started from the front are a log in chrono order of everything that happens. Of course you can't track everything so you must learn to identify what will be useful later.

For me, it is any significant action or event that has an effect on the situation. I log every conversation and carefully note who said what, how to contact them if clarification is needed and what their "significance' is to the event.

5/22/11 0300h: Respond to new Com. point.
Move ECRV 4712 to coordinates 12S1234 0034567 and establish satellite link. Deploy wifi computers and VOIP phones for disaster response hq at that location.

Contact Susan Murphy HQ Director on TAC2 at location.
Per: Mike Jones. ECRV Mgr. 227-123-4567


That kind of stuff.

I have been on disaster responses that lasted a month or longer and after awhile the log becomes your memory. Things get so confused and events blend into each other until personal memory becomes useless.

Now, doing this is not easy. There is a tendency to put writing it down off until later. Do it when it happens. But you need to practice. I suggest taking a notebook and making a log of your everyday activities. Then wait a week and see if you can honestly reconstruct the days events. Who did you talk to? What was said? What phone numbers did you call?

Like I said, this is not easy.

One final trick. As a page is used, I tear off a small bit of the bottom right corner of the paqe. This becomes a "thumb index" making it easy to find the next page. Because you are working from both directions towards the center, the bottom right (or left if you so choose) will work for both the formal and scratch notes.

Nomad

Has anyone thought about just not writing in a downpour? Keeping Your paper in a water/tight/proof/resistant case/bag?

I would echo Nomad's comments. Writing it down is vital, downpour or not. I have had to do so in two contexts, SAR (typically vital signs) and archaeological field work. Work out a system and don't trust your memory.

I like a small, pocket sized notebook for the "scratch notes," and something a trifle bigger (5x8) for the more formal stuff. Carry more than one writing instrument.

Cheap and quick write in the rain.

Laminate a 5x8 or 3x5 card. Both sides. Seal the ends tightly. Use a grease pen to write with.

Make several if you think you will need em.

One of the handiest bits of kit for quick messages and notes is a bit of light colored laminate of the type used for counter-tops. The matte surface accepts pencil marks and erases with a little spit and a quick wipe. A moist cloth for the civilized.

I've sometimes glued a 3" square piece to my tape measure for quick notes. A couple 3" by 5" pieces make a handy permanent note pad. When I was doing orienteering I would figure it all out on this. After the fact I would transcribe the pertinent information to a regular log.

Small pieces of laminate are often handed out as samples but any cabinet or counter shop that handles the material can hook you up with scraps that work well.

There are also sheets of textured Mylar laminate that are available form shop specializing in drafting materials. This is kind of like very tough pieces of paper. You can make permanent marks on this material using special solvent inks and markers. This can be handy for frequently used formulas, grids, important instructions. pencil, grease pencil, and some types of ink, can be easily erased but the marks made in solvent ink melt into the Mylar and have to be scraped out of the surface of plastic to be removed.

When I did my signals course in the British Army we were always told to use a pencil to transcribe radio messages. The reason is because it is quicker to write with a pencil and they are always more reliable than a pen.

The only other writing implement needed is a permanent lumocolor pen for writing on laminated maps. We used to use chronograph pencils but lumocolor replaced them because they are not so messy. To remove permanent marker from a laminated map use cigarette ash.

The pencil I have used for the last 22 years is the Staedtler Mars 780 2mm lead holder. These are very reliable, It does not matter if the lead breaks into mutable bits, do not need sharpening although there is a sharpener in the end and are very reliable. I have two that are both working fine after more that 20 years. And I fined the leads last longer than a standard pencil.
http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Staedtler_Mars_780_Leadholder.html

I'm also starting to EDC a sharpie permanent marker.

99% of my 'emergency writing' I do with a ballpoint pen on a steno sized notebook, usually at the scene of a fire or flood. Notes are important to make sure you don't miss anyone, and good for writing reports too. When I fill up a notebook, it goes in my file drawer. I have to pull them out from time to time to address info requests. Just about any pen will do, I keep several in my Red Cross vest and an inordinate number in my carry bags.

1% of my emergency writing comes with a sharpie marker on athletic tape affixed to my thigh - during CERT searches and triaging first aid you're taught to account for who and what you find, and that can be as simple as logging wounded and KIAs, or more complex it could be noting the room number and number of victims, or the vitals of a patient. I've trained at this and it works, and keeps your hands more available for work than a steno book or piece of paper. But its all been training so far, although I still keep a roll of tape and sharpie in my RC turn out bag, and steno pad and pen in my CERT gear.

Buy the little stubby sharpie permanent markers, they're compact and portable and fit in First Aid Kits, and write on anything including athletic tape and paper.

I've adapted this "notebook protocoll" for keeping track of my mundane everyday tasks: Important stuff at the front, scratch notes (shopping lists etc) to the back.

Doing so at a regular basis has saved considerable time and stress. Which in it self is a good enough reason for me to do so. But having this routine in place really pays off when things get a little crowded, sweaty and loud - those days when everything just seem to go the oposite of what you want them to, and you need that extra gear to get through. That's when using your notebook protocoll already has saved my day.

No life threathening events. Just adapting a bit of routine from the professionals so that my everyday mundane tasks and challenges will run a bit smoother...

I carry recycled Tyvek envelopes in my pack. They are waterproof and can be written on with pencil or Sharpie markers.

When one of my suppliers or sales reps. send me something in a Tyvek envelope, I cut it to whatever size I need or leave it intact and still have a tear resistant and waterproof bag/pouch to carry things in plus it doubles as waterproof paper. It doesn't get tossed into the landfill and still serves a practical purpose.

I've cut several sheets down to 4" x 6", punched a hole in the corner and coupled them together with a book ring. Instant waterproof notebook.

I haven't experimented with it yet, but I'm led to believe that you could use Tyvek envelopes as an improvised pouch to carry water if the bottom seam could be sealed to avoid leaks.