seriously thinking about joining SAR

“i know it's not all fun and games but i think i'd be good at i and could possibly do some good in the world and help somebody. this is one of the training courses. a friend of my wifes is in it and they do a caving camp every year in different parts of the country. also, local gear shops give gear discounts to SAR members.
any SAR peeps out there?

whatchu think?

CAVING CAMP;
> This is the equipment list, the actual skill prerequisites are at home.
> I'll have to dig them out.
>
> Personal Equipment Requirements
>
> CLIMBING HELMET
> UIAA or CE approved mountaineering style helmet with a three or
> four point suspension, and a non-elastic chinstrap
>
> THREE SOURCES OF LIGHT
> All must be capable of allowing you to exit the cave. At least two
> should be electric and two should be helmet-mountable.
>
> BOOTS
> Sturdy, rubber soled, non-marking
>
> RUGGED CLOTHING (see clothing note below)
>
> SIX LOCKING CARABINERS
> These must be independent of your ascending or descending systems
>
> DESCENT DEVICE Any of the following four devices are acceptable:
>
> 1. A standard rack
> 2. A three-bar Micro rack with a hyper-bar (4 bars total)
> 3. A Bobbin with an off-set or safety carabiner
> 4. A "Rescue Eight" with ears
>
> SEWN SEAT HARNESS
>
> ASCENDING SYSTEM
> Must be a complete working system with at least twopoints of gripping
> attachment above the center of gravity
> 1. An additional ascender or prusik must be available for crossing knots,
> etc.
> 2. One of the system's ascenders must be functional as a Quick Attachment
> Safety (QAS)
> 3. Frog system users must incorporate a cow's tail
>
> GLOVES
>
> Must have leather palms and full fingers
>
>
>
> WET SUIT
>
> Required for Level 3, optional for Levels 1 and 2
>
>
>
> WATER BOTTLES
>
> Two quarts recommended
>
>
>
> SMALL, PERSONAL FIRST AID KIT
>
> Optional, but recommended
>
>
>
> SMALL, HEAVY-DUTY PACK
>
> Used to carry personal gear around underground
>
>
>
> 2 - 20 FT PIECES OF 1-INCH TUBULAR WEBBING
>
>
> Clothing Note: the caves of the Carlsbad area are recognized as some of
> the most beautiful and best decorated in the world. To protect this
> fragile resource, gloves, soft knee-pads (no plastic covers), non-frayed
> clothes, and non-marking boots are required by the agencies
> managing/permitting the use of the caves. If you have any questions
> regarding appropriate clothing for the caves, please contact the site
> coordinator.
>
> Back to Home page
>”

“I've thought about checking into a SAR outfit around the Red River Gorge, although it would take an idiot to get very lost down there.”

“lolz.....ALWAYS count on the moron factor!”

“Yeah, one corner of the market that no bad economy can dampen.”

“i think it's be fun overall....and a great excuse to get out......and the big plus is, the little woman is all for it!”

“Strat and Stickman...check your email.”

“Strat...your email bounced”

“It doesn't take a moron, sometimes just a kid. They get lost and disoriented quickly. We had a pair of 10-yr-olds get lost after dark in the State Park here, and it took SAR more than three hours to find them. Granted, it was in an area known as "The Sinks", but it's still fairly small.”

“Just my observation, but it takes a special person to commit to this, knowing you'll have to drop things you may have planned for months to head out and search for somebody who shouldn't be in trouble in the first place. I have the utmost admiration for these people. I've met many of them, and they are great people. It's not just real missions that eat up time, but training missions as well. You also need to be in great physical condition. Then there is the cost for equipment, training, etc.

It's a big commitment to make, but if you decide to go for it, my hat's off. My goal is to never need you. But if for some reason I should, then I'll be glad you're out there.

It's not just for dummies getting lost. As I learned last summer, you never know when your foot will slip and you'll come down with an incapacitating injury, illness will strike suddenly, or something else will go wrong. The outdoors (and caves fall into that category) is a diverse element that operates on a scale we often fail to comprehend. Fog, sudden storms, cave-ins - even experienced people can get trapped, lost, turned around, or become victim. We think we know our element and we think we are good enough to not get caught, but sometimes it's larger than we are.

Heck, remember that experienced guy who had to cut his arm off to survive?”

“I think Stratdewd has some idea. When I was on the Buffalo River hike, he talked about a little girl getting lost there and the search that developed. They did find her alive.

Now me?? I think he just wants to be the one to save stikmon's butt. Whataguy, strat!! lol”

“You guys should listen to MTNSteve. He's experienced in this area.”

“I think it would be something I could get into. I already do it a little bit in the job I have, although not the lengthy through-the-woods type stuff that requires all the gear. I didn't mean to sound like I think anyone who gets lost is an idiot. I was thinking more of the people who may not be very lost but jump on the cell phone at the drop of a hat.”

“True SAR these days is as much cerebral as it is physical. When I was in Virginia I wrote extensively about the NPS SAR procedures and covered one large mantracking training class and exercise.

They have compiled data from countless SAR missions and have procedures to look for likely paths that could have been followed, depending on factors like age, etc. The recent Shenandoah SAR found a young kid who wandered away from his family within about 24 hours, which is good.

They also developed procedures for how to use volunteer groups and county sheriff's offices, dogs, and air. Joint training exercises and classes have helped to coalesce them all into a somewhat cohesive group.

The SNP model is to do a "hasty search" along likely trails, followed by a grid search that seeks to preserve what evidence there might be (footprints, scent for the dogs, whatever). Meanwhile, they continue to do hasty searches along likely trails.

Very young kids are problematic, because they often do not respond to searchers' calls.

The other problem is older people suffering from some form of dementia like Alzheimer's. Families often take them camping, and they wander away from the campsite.

Caves are a whole different ballgame. Not many worries about young kids or older folks, but it's very easy to get lost down there (from experience I can vouch for that), and there are many pitfalls that can cause injury or worse.

Transporting gear through some of those passages, or getting an injured person out, ... it boggles my mind. The one and only tunnel into the cave I went into necessitated inching through on the belly (not even crawling, more like doing a worm crawl). Can't imagine trying to take a person through that passage in a basket.”

“Speaking of Alzheimer's and other health issues with the elderly, we had an intersting complaint a few months back. An elderly woman was driving alone, and somehow got off the main road, US27, into the backroads around the farmland in the counties I work. She got further lost and drove onto a farmer's property, through 2 cattle gates, to the edge of a drop off. Luckily she had a cell phone and called the state police post I work out of. We spent approx. 6 hours looking for her before finding her way back in the back of a field. We contacted her son, and concluded she was starting to suffer from Alzheimer's or something similar.
Just shows how easy it is to get disoriented when you get older, even in a vehicle in an area with population, albeit not much. Hindsight being 20/20, she should have stopped as soon as she got lost, instead of continuing to drive. I would think the same applies when you get lost in the backcountry.”

“Good point SMW. The class I covered in SNP featured a "Hug-A-Tree" campaign in which they tried to teach kids to hug a tree until they are found. That would serve to keep them put in one spot.

It's the first rule one should follow when they get lost. Stay put. In other words, participate in getting found!”

“Barney tells them the same thing...hug a tree and blow your whistle.”

“Hank,or Hnak, is in search and rescue. I think I've seen some posts from him here. He would be a good source of information. Kind of wierded me out tho when he said he was hoping for a live-find, had had enough of the other kind.”

“i have been involved in SAR sence high school, some 30+ yrs ago. Isn't many classes, tranings or SAREX's i've not done at least a half doz. times. I have more SAR equip. than backpacking, all most as much athe tools i make a ilving with. I don't even want to think of the time and money I've put into it. A find, any find is great. It answers a question, makes it finial. The world can go on with out wondering. A good find makes all the lost sleep, crying people and news jerks worth it. Makes you want to go out and do it again.”

“I think it would be neat to be in the SAR!


8)”

“I wasnt going to post this again, but what the hell..


It's about sacrifice, rewards, pain, heart ache, elation, joy, dedication, camaraderie, adrenalin, crying and fear.

It's about the joy of giving a mother her young child back and it's about telling another her son or daughter is dead.

It's about going 48 hours without sleep, then going out in the field to search some more.

It's about picking up piece's after a plane crash and then trying to convince yourself that they're not really people.

It's about you and your team spending the night searching, falling and stumbling down a drainage in a rain storm, then finding your victim alive, cold and grateful.

It's about the fear that you may make a mistake or bad decision and get someone killed.

It's about the incredible adrenalin rush you get, flying thru the air, suspended on a line,100 feet below a chopper and it's about the countless hours of training.

Most of all, it's about helping others.”

“Good points dude!


8)”

“A find, any find is great. It answers a question, makes it finial. The world can go on with out wondering. A good find makes all the lost sleep, crying people and news jerks worth it. Makes you want to go out and do it again."

Trinity Trekker”

“mtnsteve. i think it will work now if you want to send again.....i think...

lot's of good input guys, tanx.....”

“In Washoe County, the Sheriff's Office maintains the SAR outfit. If the same is not true where you are, they could certainly point you in the right direction to find a contact.”

“thanks tahoe. the email i copy/pasted had a link to a website for them. i checked it out. i kinda looked into it a couple years ago. after the lost girl incident that liz mentioned. i went and helped look for her. i wrote a kindof trip report about my experience and sent it to this local hiking book author , tim ernst. he wrote a book about that girl that got lost up here , because it all happened right where his house is. his hiking books are listed here on this site. anyways, he printed my story in the book. pretty cool. but that's where i was first exposed to these SAR people and they are pretty cool folks.”

“Rescue MEEEEEEEE Stratdewd baaayybee. I'll get lost if you will search for me. You can easily locate me with you heat sensor. (Do you get one of those??) You wanna? Cum find me Stratbabe!”

“uhhhm....i'm sorry but i'm a happily married man and only rescue old fat ladies....”