search and rescue found me, but I wasn't lost

“I was on a day hike in the pine barrens this morning. On the return trip I heard a bell ringing,suddenly a dog appeared on the tral with a bell around it's neck and a bright orange vest that read search dog. I stopped and as the dog approched I said hello and tried to pet him. He smelled my hand then turned and ran off. He went to get his handlers and bring them to me. It was the South Jersey K-9 search and rescue team training their dogs. The one handler told me they had someone hidding in the woods for the dog to find. They don't give the dog a scent to follow they just search for any human life and he found me.”

“Did you find the Russian that Tony's boys 'lost' there? ;-)”

“found you, but what about your soul?”

“No Russian but a Mexican male with multible stab wounds was found about a year ago. As for my soul still MIA.”

“They were looking for a human and found you?”

“That's pretty cool, SAR's in the Barrens. I need to get back down there, there's great backcountry camp sites there.”

“new jerseys got soul: lost soul, phantomsoul, viol....nevermind”

“"there's great backcountry camp sites there"

Really? Where? I've never even hiked there.”

“Really? Where? I've never even hiked there.”
viOLin
7:13:37 PM
1/29/06


why does this not suprise me ;)”

“Lower Forge is one of my faves, the Batsto River is right there, and the pine needles make a nice soft bed. The privy is not too bad either.”

“There are three types of search and rescue dogs, those that look for any human in a certain area, those that follow a certain scent trail, and cadaver dogs.

Search and Rescue class was awesome, one of the best classes I took in college, now... if I only had a chance to put it to use.”

“simer, I know you are looking for companionship, but stay away from the cadavers, dude.”

“Maybe it was a cadaver dog, how bad did you smell??”

“LOL @ Pathman!

You guys are nuts.”

“I found a SAR team once.”

“were they lost?”

“you should have told them you'd been wondering around for days, maybe you would have gotten a free meal and some hot chocolate out of it ;)”

“I think it was Patrick McManus the Author who wrote the best essay on the proper way to get lost and how to behave properly when lost.”

“Ain't he the guy what got his canoe shot?”

“I'm halfway through my Rope Rescue Course. Yesterday, I made two rescues and was rescued twice. Inverted rappelling takes some practice, it is hard to a breath and all the blood rushes to your head. To actually rescue someone you must tie off and invert to work on the victim. What is amazing is how well the equipment works. Yesterday, a 160 pound guy rescued me a 270 pound guy. The rack bar takes some getting used to but it works really good.
This is not me just a fireman decending inverted. He is being lowered from above.

I rappelled probably 50 times while in the military but it was just to go from the top to the bottom. We only used a carabiner and double rope in the military. It would be hard to rescue someone with only a biner and rope. The belay man would have to really lock you down.

I'm gonna try and remember to bring a camera today. Maybe you will get to see a pic of me with my face filled with fear, pain and determination. The poor victim already has enough fear with me a 270 pound guy hanging over him upside down 30 feet off the ground. I have had a life long fear of heights but when roped in it goes away. You worry more about getting tangled in ropes, pipes, etc. The tower we are using is just construction scaffolding about 50 feet high. There is nothing but the scaffolding braces to kick off of. My elbow still hurts from dinging a pipe yesterday. Next week EMT class. Paid time off work and learning great skills for free. Gotta love it.

http://feti.lsu.edu/specialprograms/rescue/?category=Rescue%20Training&year=January%20-%20December%202006
last edited: 2/15/06 12:45:24 AM”