There are many things a hero may be called to do in defense of others. One way of systematizing these different avenues of activity sort them into mission types. These may be referred to afterwards in this article and elsewhere as "operations." In terms of the scale and scope of the time and space they take up, they are less broad and shorter in duration than "strategies", but longer lasting and occurring over a greater area than "tactics". A hero may use many different tactics in the course of a single operation, and one operation or multiple can be staged in the pursuit of a larger strategic goal.
We will here cover only mission types which have clear and unambiguous application for heroic activities. While there are few, if any, hard and fast rules for how to act like a hero, certain tactics and types of operations pose a significantly greater risk of harm to you and others. Remember that all actions have risk. It is up to you to make good decisions about which ones are worth taking. Many kinds of bad outcomes can be reversed without consequences if you realize the plan you chose is going poorly. Pain, injury and death are not among them.
Rescue
A rescue operation entails taking action to assist a person or persons in serious danger, in getting out of danger and to a reasonable degree of safety. While not every person who needs to be rescued will have been injured due to the events that led to them needing to be rescued (for example, a rock climber stuck on a wide, but inaccessible ledge because they dropped their rope), many subjects will need medical attention and it is prudent to ensure that they qualified medical evaluation and definitive care. Not all serious medical emergencies can be detected by a layman, and in many cases symptoms do not become evident until the subject's condition has deteriorated significantly.
Search
A search is a systematic observation of an area in order to find a person or thing. Sometimes searches are nonspecific, as in the case of collapsed buildings where the goal is simply to find any survivors. Sometimes they are specific, such as in the case of lost hikers or other kinds of missing persons cases. They can cover vast areas or tiny plots of land. Tracking and evidence searches are both skill sets related to search.
Reconnaissance
A reconnaissance, or "recon", operation is the gathering of preliminary intelligence about a place, route, or other geographical feature. It will typically involve some kind of risk assessment, and may rely on such diverse methods of data gathering as photography, videography, radiometry, chemical analysis, and countless others.
Patrol
One of the most common operations RLSH employ, and for good reason. A patrol is a circumnavigation, or "beat", of a set of points, lanes, or perimeters that are to be secured. A good patrol route should be one that you can safely and easily navigate when conditions are favorable, and one that you know well. This will allow you to determine when things are unusual or out of place, which can be critical information for determining risk to you and others, as well as noticing when others are in need of help.
Distribution
Another RLSH classic. Distribution operations entail the transfer of resources from a centralized source to multiple destinations. If you want to get food, water, and other essentials to a lot of people who need it, a distribution operation is the way you get that done.