IS IT HUMAN?

Specialized Training for Searching, Recovering, & Identifying Human Remains

IS IT HUMAN, LLC provides practical training and resources for search and recovery teams, law enforcement, investigators, game wardens, and other first responders who may encounter human skeletal remains.

From comparative osteology and human bone identification to human tracking and ultraviolet-light searching, our training is built around a simple question:

Is it human?

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TRAINING FOR THE REAL WORLD

Finding a bone during a search can change the mission.

For a searcher, investigator, or first responder, the next questions are critical:

What is it?   Is it human?   Where did it come from?   And what should I do next?

IS IT HUMAN, LLC provides hands-on training designed to help first responders recognize, document, and appropriately respond to potential human remains.

Comparative Osteology

Learn practical techniques for distinguishing human bones from commonly encountered animal bones.

Searching With UV Light

Learn how ultraviolet light can be incorporated into searches for surface-scattered skeletal remains.

Human Tracking

Develop practical tracking skills for search and rescue operations.

Search & Recovery

Understand how bone identification, search methodology, and scene preservation can work together during a recovery mission.

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IS IT HUMAN?

Comparative Osteology for First Responders

A bone found in the field isn't automatically human—and determining what it is can be an important first step in a search or investigation.

Is It Human? Comparative Osteology for First Responders is a hands-on course designed for the people most likely to encounter bones in the field.

Students work directly with real and replica skeletal material while learning practical techniques for comparing human and non-human bones.

Students learn to:

Identify major skeletal elements

Compare human and non-human bones

Recognize fragmented remains

Document potential skeletal remains

Understand basic bone morphology

Use field identification resources

The course can be adapted for search and rescue teams, law enforcement, investigators, fire and rescue personnel, park personnel, wildlife officers, and other first responders.

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WHY IS IT HUMAN?

Training built from real world experience.

IS IT HUMAN, LLC was created from a simple observation:

First responders sometimes encounter bones before anyone else does.

Knowing what you are looking at can affect how a search or investigation proceeds.

Our approach combines field experience in search and rescue with comparative osteology, identification, documentation, and skeletal-remains research.

We don't teach bone identification as an academic exercise alone.

We teach it in the context in which first responders actually encounter it.

SEARCHING FOR SKELETAL REMAINS WITH UV LIGHT

Ultraviolet light is emerging as a valuable tool for locating surface-scattered skeletal remains that can be difficult to see during conventional searches.

Through field experience and collaborative research, Jim Russell has helped investigate how alternate light sources (ALS) can be used during searches for human skeletal remains.

Our work has included controlled search experiments, field applications, training programs, and published forensic research.

What can UV light add to a search?

Under appropriate conditions, skeletal material can fluoresce when illuminated with ultraviolet light, potentially making otherwise difficult-to-see remains easier to detect.

IS IT HUMAN, LLC provides training on the practical use of UV light as a search tool—including equipment, search techniques, limitations, and field considerations.

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TRUSTED BY FIRST RESPONDERS

IS IT HUMAN? training has been presented to personnel from law enforcement, search and rescue, emergency management, wildlife agencies, forensic technicians, and other public-safety organizations.

Our students have included personnel from organizations such as:

Federal Bureau of Investigation • Naval Criminal Investigative Service • Virginia State Police • Virginia Department of Emergency Management • Virginia Department of Forensic Science • Virginia State Parks • Pennsylvania Game Commission • Hampton Police Department • Chesapeake Police Department • Norfolk Police Department • Virginia Beach Police Department

…and many search and rescue organizations throughout the Mid-Atlantic and beyond.

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THE RUSSELL BONE ATLAS

A Free Field Resource for Bone Identification

When you find a bone, you need information quickly.

The Russell Bone Atlas is a free online comparative osteology resource created by Jim Russell to help first responders examine and identify skeletal elements encountered during searches and recovery operations.

The Atlas provides photographs, illustrations, comparisons, and information designed specifically with field identification in mind.

Built from field experience. Designed for first responders. Free to use.

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JIM RUSSELL - Founder & Lead Instructor

Jim Russell has been involved in search and rescue in Virginia since 2014 and is the Director of the Search and Rescue Tracking Institute (SARTI).

His work focuses on the intersection of search and rescue, human tracking, skeletal remains, and field recovery. He is a Virginia Department of Emergency Management adjunct instructor and teaches search and rescue, tracking, land navigation, and comparative osteology.

Jim developed Is It Human? Comparative Osteology for First Responders, a hands-on program designed to teach first responders how to distinguish human from non-human skeletal remains.

He is also the creator of The Russell Bone Atlas, a free online comparative osteology resource developed specifically to help first responders identify bones encountered in the field.

Jim has collaborated with researchers and forensic professionals on the use of alternate light sources to locate skeletal remains and is a co-author of peer-reviewed forensic research on the subject.

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