Worthwhile considerations. Our protocol was to begin a search, typically thought to be for a living person, ASAP. On countless occasions, I drove into a setting sun (often on Sunday) at the beginning of a search operation, knowing full well that it was the beginning of an all nighter.

Transporting the victim, hopefully stable following discovery, was another matter. This operation often waited until daylight. Occasionally I have remained with the body until daylight rendered recovery much more feasible; someone always had this chore.

With regard to footprints, I actually prefer to track at night. the worst case IMHO is tracking in broad daylight with the sun high in the sky and resulting very flat lighting. You can actually detect and follow footprints more effectively with a hand held light, varying the lighting angle and intensity. I recall one operation where we discovered prints and tracked them for six miles, all at night, successfully encountering the individual just before day break

I have done a fair amount of caving and recreational night hiking, both before and during my SAR involvement, and I don't believe that hiking at night is significantly any more hazardous than day travel, although night travel is probably not as fast. I would make an exception if you are coping with unknown terrain, especially if you lack adequate topo maps.

There are many factors that influence the development of search strategy, and prolonged searches often develop into sustained day operations for a host of extremely practical reasons. I would agree that intensive line searches are best done in full day light. But there are plenty of former victims around today who are grateful for a timely nocturnal response.

One result of a vigorous night response is that searchers are present in the search area when rosy fingered dawn kisses the sky. That was when we often made initial contact, an event which would have occurred much later if there had been no night operation