Support the Team: Coconino County Search & Rescue Film Night and Fundraiser

Hi, folks and faithful followers...

I know it's been ages since I've posted anything here—life has been so busy, so I've had to let some things slip, including blogging—but [waving like a nut] I'm still here and still loving being part of SAR and proud to be a member of this wonderful team of volunteers here in Coconino County. Matter of fact, I intend to keep at it for as long as I can be of service in some capacity, which hopefully will be for decades to come.

From a search in Havasupai Canyon

So, there have been many missions since I last posted, a few that took me into part of this amazing county I've never been (Paria Canyon, Havasupai, Sundance Canyon) and others in places that have become so familiar over the past six years I've been on the team. I haven't been able to respond as often as I used to because of other obligations and a few vacations, but I'm doing as much as I can, as often as I can, and looking forward to helping with the new member academy coming up soon.

Anyhoo... to the main point of this post:

I wanted to pass along news of an upcoming film night and fundraiser, which you can attend at two different places: the Orpheum Theater here in Flagstaff on September 17th or the Pollack Tempe Cinemas in Tempe on the 18th. Here's the official scoop from the Facebook announcement...

American Canyoneers has launched a fundraising campaign to help the team help us. These funds will be used for the purchase of critical equipment and training for team members.

How can you help? Easy! Come watch a few great films about canyoneering! Along the way you’ll see a presentation by the SAR team about the rescue in Insomnia Canyon, certainly one of the most difficult slot canyon rescues ever. You’ll be stunned at the effort the team had to put into saving one life. Join us in Flagstaff on September 17th at the Orpheum Theater or in Tempe on September 18th at the Pollack Tempe Cinemas.

Have fun, celebrate our favorite pastime, learn how you can avoid being the next victim, and support our SAR team.

Check out the schedule for the evening and more about the films at http://www.americancanyoneers.org/coconino-sar-fund-raiser/

You can order tickets (and make an additional donation to SAR if you'd like) here: http://americancanyoneers1.eventbrite.com/

Hope you can make it!

SAR Ops: From Classroom to Call-Out

 

I had just received my Inland Search Management class certificate the day before, on Friday. At 4:15 a.m. Saturday, my phone beeped me awake with a text message then rang moments later. It was a call-out for operations leaders to respond to the SAR building for a search for a missing person—my first call-out as one of those ops folks.

Also the first to show up, I found a note on our coordinator's office door, saying he'd gone to the main Sheriff's Office building—something about picking up information regarding the subject's recent cellphone activity—so I waited. I wasn't sure what the procedures were for our team's ops volunteers as opposed to what I usually do when I arrive for a regular call-out. But two, more experienced ops leaders walked in within minutes and put me to work. Then our coordinator returned and gave us a short briefing.

While I shouldn't... well, can't give many details about the search (I have to remind myself of that sometimes), I can say it was fun (probably politically incorrect but true) coming up with various scenarios and working on plans for the search.

Shortly after our SAR coordinator had briefed us on the situation, I'd been instructed to call one of our volunteers who lives in the area of this search, which was a good distance from our base in Flagstaff. This searcher is often notified directly when there's SAR activity in his neck of the woods, so he can get a head start as he did this time, heading out to meet with the RP (reporting party) and drive some roads in the area. He knows those roads well. 

Next, I helped prepare a briefing packet for the initial response, and then several of us leaned over maps spread out on the conference room table, at times our heads nearly touching. Cellphone information was plotted on those maps, fingers followed contour lines and Forest Service roads, distances were measured, and scenarios were hashed out and re-hashed.

Not long before the general call-out was made to the rest of the team, two of the ops leaders, also regular members of the unit like I am, left for the search area. They would eventually rendezvous with our volunteer already there and assist with the "route and location search," which is what we're calling a hasty search nowadays, based on what we'd come up with as the most likely places the subject might be found.

I'm happy to report that the information gathered in the initial investigation, combined with the scenarios and plans formulated back at the SAR building and the quick response from our volunteer in the area, the subject was located and in good condition.

I was also able to attend the next call for ops leaders just days later to discuss a potentially very complex search in remote, rugged terrain. I didn't say much at that meeting, except when asked directly for my opinion, but I found it really interesting to listen the other, more experienced ops leaders and law enforcement/SAR personnel talk about scenarios, logistics for getting a large amount of specialized gear and personnel into the area, and weigh the risks against the quality of the information—or lack thereof—that was available so far. 

Yep, I really find this SAR Ops stuff fascinating. Although I already knew quite well what goes on behind the scenes of a SAR mission and what's involved in more extensive, multi-operational-period and multi-agency missions, the ops classes I've taken have really reinforced that there's so much more to SAR than people just showing up to wander around, looking. The classes also showed how important it is that as many people as possible be trained to work within the Incident Command System, particularly for large, complex situations. This training also drives home the message that taking the time to properly investigate and plan a search, as opposed to just rushing out to the field, can really save time in the end and get the missing subject found sooner than later.

Both paid and volunteer SAR professionals work with the WIN-CASIE computer program during the Inland Search Management class, held in Flagstaff, Arizona

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And in other team news...

Our own Cindy McArthur received word from NASAR Canine Committee Chair, Ann Christensen, that her dog, Nitro, who passed away earlier this year, has been selected to receive the NASAR Canine of the Year award. Christensen stated, "This year, we were very fortunate to have a number of deserving canines nominated for this award and the competition this year was stiff and the decision difficult," but, in the end, Nitro was chosen for his years of excellent service to the SAR community.

Nitro will be honored and the award presented at the 2012 NASAR Conference Closing Award Ceremony on Saturday, June 9^th at Lake Tahoe.

Congratulations, Cindy and Nitro!


And speaking of SAR canines...


The 2nd annual Arizona K9 SAR Conference, held here in Flagstaff, AZ, just concluded this past Sunday and, once again, was a great success, with more than 60 handlers and their dogs attending. We're looking forward to more of these educational training events in the future.

Time to Learn Some SAR Ops

Now that I'm in my fifth year with Coco SAR, I'm eligible to begin training for SAR ops (ops = operations). I'm pretty excited about this because I love that part of search and rescue. I look forward to helping with things like mapping out and planning a search, allocating resources and personnel, directing SAR members as they show up for a mission as to what needs to be done and what gear needs to be loaded, and assisting with whatever else the coordinator might need when preparing for a mission.

On Tuesday, March 13–15, I'll be taking the Intermediate Incident Command System (ICS) class, which will cover topics such as transfer of command, unified command functions in a multi-jurisdictional or multi-agency incident, ICS forms, resource management, inter-agency mission planning and procurement, and ICS staffing and organization to include reporting, working relationships and information flow.

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The way it's working these days with our team is that, when the coordinator is contacted about a SAR call, he'll do some initial investigation and then, if necessary (depending on the type of mission it is), call out just those members qualified to help with operations. Whichever "ops leaders" are available at that stage respond to the SAR building to assist. Then, when ready, the coordinator will do a general call-out for the rest of the team, just the technical rescue team, or even specific members with specific skills as the situation may warrant.

Other than the paid coordinators, SAR ops folks are all volunteer members of team. Many are also members of the tech team, and one or two are mounted unit members. Some of those who help with ops have been on the team for many years—more than 25 years in one case—and have taken many different operations courses. I'm looking forward to that type of training, myself.

Sometimes, ops leaders and the coordinator are able to resolve a situation, often with the help of deputies on scene or over the phone with a lost subject, before a general call-out is made, so other volunteers are able to keep doing what they're doing (like sleeping, for one thing) and don't know about the situation until it's discussed at a monthly meeting. It's amazing how many times the coordinator has been "just about to push the button" for a general call-out when the subject has been located or assisted back to safety or a known location by phone. That saves the rest of us a lot of interrupted activities and unnecessary responses. Saves money too, not to mention time for the person/s who needed help in the first place.

Want to know more about Incident Command System training? These classes are part of FEMA's National Incident Management Training Program. Visit the FEMA NIMS Training site.

Welcoming New Team Members and Saying Goodbye to Another

The annual Basic Search & Rescue Academy is underway, with 18 new members taking classes in skills such as personal safety, map and compass, GPS navigation, ATV operation, and tracking, with a mock search to be held at the end of the two-month training. 

Once students have completed the academy, including two Incident Command System tests, they'll be added to the call-out list and be eligible to respond to missions.

Sadly, as we welcome new members to the Coconino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team, we're also mourning the loss of another, a four-legged team member named Nitro. Nitro, whose nickname was Peedles, was the oldest and most experienced of handler Cindy McArthur's four SAR dogs, and he did his job enthusiastically and with energy till the day before he suddenly succumbed to previously undetected liver cancer earlier this month. Nitro was 10 years old.

A NASAR-certified search dog cross-trained in area search (for live subjects) and HRD (human remains detection), Nitro had three live finds and three HR finds on missions during his career and countless other successful finds during trainings as often as three times per week.

Among his mission finds were a teen on the autism spectrum; an 83-year-old man with dementia who'd been missing for more than 40 hours; the verified location of the scent of human remains in a closet three years after the body had been removed, which led to the killer's arrest; and the location of eigh human bones buried in a pack rat's nest. Earlier this year, Nitro located two lost hikers in the San Francisco Peaks and also found a smear of blood on a pair of pants inside a locked trunk, later determined to be human blood through the use of Luminal by the Coconino Sheriff's Office CSI Team. 

Nitro received the 2005 Search & Rescue Dog of the Year award from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and, in the same year, the Kingman Police Department Excellence Award for assistance in a homicide case, which he shared with Radar, another of Cindy's search dogs. Nitro also received the Good Gun Foundation Award for Search Dog Unit in 2007.

As Cindy said, "[Nitro] was the best SAR dog any handler could dream for, and I will miss him dearly.  Our SAR unit has lost one of it's most dedicated members."

Having worked with Nitro as Cindy's backer and also as a lost subject for her dogs, I too will miss sweet, loyal Nitro.

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The search and rescue community recently lost another member of its family, DPS helicopter pilot Matthew Uhl who was killed in a car accident on September 20th when the vehicle he was driving was struck head-on by a Ford Explorer moving at a high rate of speed as the driver may have been attempting to pass other vehicles. Matthew was deceased on scene.

A DPS Pilot since 2006, Matthew Uhl operated the Bell 407 Ranger Air Rescue and was assigned to the DPS Central Air Rescue Unit in Phoenix. At the time of his death, he was en route to cover a shift in Kingman as part of the DPS Western Air Rescue.

On February 20, 2010, Matt Uhl and DPS Officer/Paramedic Eric Tarr rescued three-year-old Victoria Bensch who had been missing for nearly 15 hours after she wandered away from her Cordes Lakes home.

Uhl was also the pilot who flew the short-haul rescue of the severely injured canyoneer in Insomnia Canyon on August 13th that our team participated in. He will be sorely missed.

See DPS Pilot, Two Others, Killed in Head-On Car Wreck

A Busy Memorial Day Weekend for Search & Rescue and the CCSO

It was a three-day weekend with six calls for Search and Rescue that I know of.

Saturday started off with a missing person with dementia who'd walked away from a home in Junipine Estates. The SAR team was called, but the subject was located by a passerby before searchers arrived. Deputies and one SAR member went to the subject's location to extricate him from the brush where he was sitting, and he was transported to the hospital.

Then there was the call-out for a technical rescue at Mooney Falls on the Havasupai reservation. A DPS helicopter was en route when SAR was called, but it was unknown if high winds would prevent the crew from landing or doing a short haul in the canyon. So, the technical rescue team headed that way from Flagstaff as quickly as possible, although it's a very long response time for ground SAR to travel that far. Luckily, the helicopter was able to land near the falls, and the patient was loaded without any technical rescue, air or otherwise, necessary. The SAR team made it all the way to the turnoff from Seligman before they were told to turn around.

Just after refueling the SAR vehicles back in Flagstaff, the tech team was asked to head out of town again, this time to Waterholes Canyon just south of Page.

Waterholes Canyon

The victim had fallen approximately 100 feet and was about 500 feet below the rim. Page Patrol deputies and Page Fire Department also responded, as did DPS Air Rescue, but it was determined that a helicopter technical rescue was not possible due to extremely windy conditions.

The Coconino County Sheriff's SAR coordinator requested additional assistance from the Park Service at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. With multi-agency cooperation, the victim and a paramedic who'd scrambled down to his location were raised to the rim, where a Classic Air Ambulance transported the patient to Flagstaff Medical Center at about 9 p.m. SAR and Page Fire personnel then assisted the uninjured members of the canyoneering party from the bottom of the canyon to the rim. The CCSO technical rescue team returned to Flagstaff again at 2 a.m.

On May 28th, while the rescue in Waterholes Canyon was underway, there was a call for a lost hiker near Ashurst Lake. A Coconino County Sheriff's Office corporal who is also an assistant SAR coordinator handled the call and conducted a hasty search. He successfully located the missing hiker.

The next morning, the Sheriff's Office received a report of an accident at Willow Springs Lake. The victim, who was still onshore at the time another canoe flipped, tried to assist in a separate boat, which also overturned. From what I heard, the victim had called for help, went under, resurfaced, and called again, then disappeared. A deputy from Forest Lakes and the Forest Lakes Fire Department responded to the scene, and search and rescue was requested to assist with the search. Our SAR coordinator arranged for the Coconino County Sheriff's Office Dive Rescue Team and members of the NPS Glen Canyon Dive Rescue Team to respond, and an underwater search was conducted into Sunday evening. The search was suspended at dark and resumed on the morning of the 30th. The missing subject was located deceased at approximately 4:00 p.m. on Monday.

Also on Monday at approximately 9:00 p.m., the Sheriff's Office received a call of separated hikers on the Humphreys Peak Trail. Deputies responded and located both parties.

These were just some of the incidents the Coconino County Sheriff's Department was involved with over the busy Memorial Day weekend.

More Lost Hikers Rescued on the Peaks

Last month, there were two groups of lost hikers on the San Francisco peaks, two nights in a row. The first group was very hypothermic when rescuers from Coconino County SAR arrived, and a teammate of mine told me he didn't think one (at least) would have survived the night. These hikers had all lost the trail and then darkness caught up with them. Good thing there's a cellphone signal up there.

At this time, the Mt. Humphreys Trail is still covered with snow in some sections and still quite deep with a lot of blowdowns, making it very difficult to follow. One of my teammates who was hiking up there recently and knows the mountain intimately helped another disoriented hiker make his way back down to the Arizona Snowbowl ski area, likely avoiding a search and rescue later that same day or night.

This past Monday night, there was another call for the rescue of yet another lost hiker on Mt. Humphreys. Using a GPS app on his phone, the Ohio man texted his coordinates to his wife back in Ohio, who then contacted Coconino County Sheriff's dispatch at around 5:30 p.m.  Eight search and rescue volunteers were then dispatched to the coordinates and located the lost hiker. After helping him get warm, they escorted him down the mountain to  his vehicle. He declined medical attention.

Please remember, if you're going to hike Mt. Humphreys, especially when the trail is in such "challenging" shape, carry extra layers of clothing, two light sources and extra batteries, food and plenty of water, a topographic map (Humphreys Peak Quad), a GPS (if you know how to use it), and a fully charged cellphone. Keep in mind that you'll be hiking at elevations ranging from 9,500 to 12,600 feet, which is a lot more difficult—and colder and often much windier—than hiking at sea level or even down in Flagstaff at 7,000 feet, so it will take you quite a bit longer.

For current trail conditions, contact the Coconino National Forest Ranger District at 1824 S. Thompson St., Flagstaff, AZ 86001 or call 928-527-3600.

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To follow up on the fundraiser for injured Coconino County Search and Rescue team member Scott Baker, held this past Saturday, I'm told more than $11,000 was raised for the Baker family on that day. Thank you to all who participated and helped make this event such a success!

Helping One of Our Own

In January, 2011, my teammate, Scott Baker, was injured in a construction accident, leaving him with spinal cord injuries and paralyzed from the waist down. As today's article in the Arizona Daily Sun says, "As a SAR volunteer, Baker spent 25 years never hesitating to get up in the middle of the night, whatever the weather, and go searching for lost or stranded people."

And I know this from firsthand experience working with Scott, who has been a great field partner to me on several missions, including one all-night search on Mt. Agassiz. It was well below zero on that winter night, when our hands would go numb the minute we'd remove our gloves to try to use our GPSes. We were struggling out there, snowshoeing through deep drifts for hours, but Scott always kept our spirits up.

In addition to being a "ground-pounder," Scott was also a member of our team's technical high-angle rescue unit.

Scott has also been a helper in ways other than his 25 years as a dedicated search and rescue volunteer. He was a 4-H parent for 10 years and helped children by maintaining equestrian equipment and a safe, happy place for kids to practice horsemanship. Scott's wife also volunteers, serving on several committees in the community.

This Saturday, the Summit Fire Department Auxiliary, the local firefighters' union, Coconino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue, and 4-H are coming together for a fundraiser at Coconino High School to help cover some of the costs associated with Scott's long-term rehabilitation down in Phoenix and other expenses not covered by insurance. Even the wheelchair alone costs $28,000. His family has been going to visit him every week down in the valley to learn how to help him when he comes home, which is scheduled for sometime next week.

Scott Baker Fundraiser

Saturday, May 7th, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m
Coconino High School, 2701 N. Izabel St.
Chili cook-off, cake auction and silent auction raffle
Cost: $25 for chili cook-off; $5 for six raffle tickets; $10 T-shirts; $10 to taste all the chili you want.
Information: Summit Fire Department at 526-9537

AZ K9 SARCON: Search and Rescue Dogs Come to Flagstaff

This year for the first time, the Arizona K9 SAR Conference was held here in Flagstaff, hosted by our own Coconino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team. More than 50 dogs and their handlers came from around the state and other parts of the US to learn from expert instructors and from one another during this four-day event.

Classes included:

• Air Scent K-9 Fieldwork
• Trailing Dogs Fieldwork, Introduction to Scent Theory
• Scent Dynamics
• Forensics/Decomposition
• Human Remains Detection/Fieldwork
• Pheromonal Communications
• Helicopter Safety for Search and Rescue Canines
• ROC and Triangulation Techniques
• Field First Aid for K-9s
• Human Bone Identification
• Working K-9 Health Issues

I'm not a K9 handler, but I really enjoyed helping out with this conference for a couple of days, "getting lost" for the dogs to find, and at times just observing. I found the advice and tips the instructors gave the handlers fascinating, including suggestions for how to correct certain behaviors (both their own and the dogs'), overcome challenges, and build on the dogs' natural instincts.

Alerts, motivation, and rewards were often the focus during field work sessions, as well as training techniques and reading the dogs' signals. I loved watching the handlers communicate with their canine partners and especially enjoyed seeing the fun the dogs had. To them, searching is a game with a prize at the end.

As the "subject" of dozens of searches, I saw and felt lots of pink tongues and wet noses up close and personal and handled quite a few gooey toys and hotdogs.

This excited four-legged SAR volunteer has located me, run back to get Mom and lead her to his find...

The K9s came in all shapes and sizes. Isn't she a beauty?

She may be little, but she's got a great nose and work ethic.

Instructors, including Coco SAR's Cindy McArthur, worked one-on-one with dogs and handlers.

See more of my photos and videos from the 2011 AZ K9 SARCON

My Third Arizona SAR Conference

Once again, it was a fun and informative long weekend. At this year's Arizona SAR Conference, held every 18 months in Heber, I helped teach the GPS courses. I also had time to attend a class.

AZ DPS Helicopter Class

In addition to the two all-day GPS classes, courses offered at this year's conference included:

• Alternative Navigation
• Map & Compass
• Tracking
• Basic and Advanced ATV and UTV Operation classes
• New Search & Rescue Technology
• Swiftwater Awareness
• PLB/ELT Direction Finding
• Amateur Ham Radio
• Wilderness First Aid
• Search Area Segmentation

There was also a class about the AZ DPS helicopter, a demonstration by the USAF 305th Rescue Squadron, and a schedule of classes for those in Mounted Search & Rescue.

Among the awards given out at the conference were the Arizona SAR Team of the Year award, which went to Verde SAR from Yavapai County. And congratulations to my teammate, Art Pundt, for receiving SAR Volunteer of the Year!  

Here are some more photos from the conference....

Art was the lead instructor for one of the GPS classes.

Marty helps a student during the GPS class field exercise.

Students plot waypoints on their maps, then enter them in their GPSes.

Art helps a student during a GPS class.

Our SAR coordinator for Coconino County presents Art with his award.

Verde SAR accepts their SAR Team of the Year Award.

 

 

Many different county SAR teams were represented at the conference.

The Mounted SAR area, with all their horse trailers.

USAF 305th Rescue Squadron

 

 

 

SAR Guilt -- Two Missed Missions

It's been three and a half years since I joined the team. During most of that time, I rarely missed a mission, unless I was out of town or otherwise really tied up with something else. All told, I've put in more than 1,000 hours of mission time plus trainings, meetings, conferences, and other SAR events and activities.

These days, though, it's a little tougher for me to respond to call-outs due to my elderly mom's medical and mental health issues, with me being her primary caretaker, and other commitments I've had lately. The last several months have been quieter on the call-out front than most of my time with the unit, but I've had to miss a number of those missions. And it bothers me.

There was a call-out last night, in fact. The phone awakened me after I'd fallen asleep on the couch. I don't remember what time it was, but it was fairly late, and I was really tired. Contemplating, I listened to the call-out message, looked at the call-out text, and then read the call-out email. Should I go? I agonized for several minutes more, as I listened to wind whip around the house. Should I stay? What about the things I had to do in the morning? What if the mission weren't over by then? Even so, I might get little to no sleep before I'd have to take care of tomorrow's commitments. Finally, I decided, albeit reluctantly, not to respond. It was a call to search for two lost hikers on the peaks.

Missing this mission made me feel guilty, more so because I'd had to skip another one just the night before for two more lost hikers on the peaks. I don't know anything about either search because I haven't yet talked to any teammates who were on them, and I've seen nothing in the newspaper. I wonder what happened and how long the team was out there. Maybe it sounds silly, but it bugs me when I can't participate.

At 11:11 p.m., I'm wondering if there will be another call-out tonight. If so... I go!

I'm Not Missing! (And a Ropes That Rescue Class)

I'm still an addicted... uh, dedicated... SAR member. It's just been a while since I've posted and just as long since I've been on a mission.

Actually, compared to most of the past few years, when it wasn't unusual to get a least one or two calls per week, lasting anywhere from hours to days, it's been relatively quiet lately. There has been some SAR activity, but I've either been out of town at the time or tied up with my elderly mom, who I take care of and who's had some medical issues lately.

We did have a decent snow storm back in January, when I-17 and other slippery roads in and out of Flagstaff were closed for most of an afternoon, evening, and night, stranding motorists. Several SAR volunteers were hand-called that night (as opposed to a general call-out) and went out in the storm to bring water and blankets and other supplies to people stuck in their vehicles and rescue some who couldn't stick it out. I was pretty well snowed in that night and listened to my teammates on an online scanner.

Let's see... what else happened? Well, there were a few calls that never really got off the ground, when SAR responded late at night, only to hang out at the building until it was confirmed that the situations had been resolved by the helicopter crew or other means. Such is SAR sometimes.

And there were a couple of missions down in the West Fork of Oak Creek—searches for overdue hikers—that both ended well. As did a situation on the peaks, when two of my teammates were asked to go up there to help a couple who'd gotten a bit misplaced, not having a map. They didn't have the required (free) winter backcountry permit, either, so they had a little meet-n-greet with the Forest Service when they emerged from the forest. So that'll cost 'em a bit more than the free permit would have. (Added later: As of 2019, this free permit is no longer required for winter backcountry recreation in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness. Here the Forest Service update.)

At our recent monthly meeting, our team coordinator said he attributes some of this slow-down in calls to the fact that snow conditions have been pretty crappy so far this winter, so skiers and snowboarders generally haven't been venturing out-of-bounds from the ski area or otherwise going into the backcountry. That could change as of this weekend, though, because it's currently snowing quite heavily, and the storm is expected to dump as much as 18 inches here in town, with more on the peaks.

So, I don't have any recent firsthand SAR mission experiences to tell you about since back on New Year's Eve. But I have been doing SAR stuff, including practicing technical rescue skills. Back in November, I took my second class with Ropes That Rescue in Sedona, Arizona, and I just finished a third. Here are some photos from the class.

Back-to-Back SAR with an Hour Off for Dinner

I had just finished my last bite of dinner when the phone rang: SAR. I'd heard some radio traffic about missing base jumpers earlier in the day while on another mission, but hours had passed with no call-out. I figured the situation had been resolved. I guess not.

The earlier mission had been a rather sedentary one, with a long drive to and from Forest Lakes, the same rural development where we'd searched for Mark Irby for 10 days. This time, our coordinator had requested five volunteers to go down there to assist the dive team from Page, Arizona—the Coconino County Sheriff's Office Underwater Search and Recovery Team from the Page Substation, to be specific—who would be searching a pond for a the body of a man who'd been missing since this past summer. (That initial search had taken place while I was in Nepal.)

I had no idea how we were supposed to help a dive team. We weren't told to wear swimsuits (lucky for me) or bring snorkels, only to check in with the deputy on scene when we arrived.

So, here's what we were instructed to do: Each of us SAR folks would stand on shore, holding a rope. At the other end of a rope would be a diver, holding the rope in his hand, keeping it taut. The ropes would have two purposes:

1. As means of communication between the diver and his partner on shore — One tug meant something, two tugs something else, three yet another message, etc. (things like, stop, go, surface, found something, and so forth). The recipient of the message on the other end of the rope was supposed to repeat the tugs, indicating they'd understood. And the tugs needed to be exaggerated, so the diver and especially the person on shore could differentiate actual communication tugs from involuntary pulls on the rope, like as the diver swam.

2. As a means of keeping the diver on his grid — Each diver would search an area of the pond in a back-and-forth grid pattern. The diver would swim to the outer edge of their area, and then that diver and their partner—the person on shore—would take up any slack in the rope. The rope would be kept taut as the diver went under and searched. After the first pass, the diver would turn around, the person on shore would take in the rope about three feet (that distance determined by the amount of visibility underwater, which was low in this case), and then the diver would swim back the other way, thereby making the second sweep three feet away and parallel to the first one. Then the person on shore would take up another three feet of rope for the diver's next pass and so forth.

Make any sense?

So that's what my teammates and I did for several hours—hold rope, take in rope, and tug if necessary—while the dive team swam back and forth. I sat on shore, then I stood, and I sat and stood some more, trying to stay focused on my job while the warm sun made me sleepy. Our one teammate without a rope to manage periodically delivered drinks and snacks to the rest of us stationed around the pond.

In the end, the divers did a thorough search but found nothing... except some unusually huge crawdads.

So homeward bound we'd headed, listening to the radio traffic along the way. That's when we'd heard about those missing base jumpers.

"What's a base jumper?" I'd asked my friends.

I was told that a base jumper is someone who puts on a parachute and jumps off a cliff.  Oh. Is that, like, fun? Guess it is for some folks, but apparently this particular foursome, who'd jumped into the Little Colorado River Gorge, hadn't planned well for getting out of the canyon once they'd jumped in. Oops.

Base jumpers (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

But there had been no call-out for SAR by the time we returned to the building. So, I headed home, grabbed some microwavable dinner, and had been there for about an hour when the call finally came.

And back to the SAR building I went. I figured this mission might be a bit more on the active side than the first—possibly a tech rescue—and I had plenty of energy in reserve.

As it turned out, the reason for the delay before the call-out was the need for more investigation by the Sheriff's Department to determine where exactly we needed to look. They had received information using base jumper nomenclature, which was not marked on any map. Based on past experience, several areas were checked and the subjects' vehicle eventually located. And then SAR was called.

Apparently, the four young men, ranging in age from 18 to 30, were now a day overdue, the reporting party had said. As I understand it, this was supposed to be a day trip: jump, open parachutes, land, hike out. But I guess the route out, which they'd heard about from someone somewhere, hadn't been so obvious.

As we made the rather long drive from Flagstaff to Cameron and then onto Navajo Reservation land, the four subjects were spotted by the helicopter, climbing out of the canyon... as in, hand-over-hand climbing. They had left their gear, including parachutes and camera equipment, at the bottom. They were also very dehydrated. As SAR was en route, still thinking we'd need to go down to help them out, the helicopter dropped (or lowered... not sure) water to the men.

As we bumped our way along the unpaved roads, the Navajo officer on scene reported that one of the men had made it to the rim. Then another and another and, finally, the fourth. They were all basically okay and apparently wanting to know how they were going to get their gear out of the bottom of the canyon.

From what I heard, what they did get were citations for being on the rez without permits and for "littering" by leaving gear down there.

After waiting to meet up with the four shirtless and shoeless jumpers so our coordinator could take a report, SAR headed for home. I got in sometime around midnight, making it a 19-hour day of SAR with a lotta sittin'.

The Little Colorado River meets up with the Colorado River in Grand Canyon

Some SAR for Flagstaff Twisters

It was just before 6 a.m. when the ringing woke me up. Glancing at my cellphone, I wasn't surprised at that still-dark hour to see it was a SAR call, but when I answered, I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly in my sleepy fog. Did our coordinator say tornado?

Not only had he said tornado, but throughout the day, several more twisters would touch down in the Flagstaff area, one of which destroyed more than 30 homes and damaged about 100 others in Bellemont and toppled 28 freight train cars. Another twister originated in the Blue Ridge area, leaving a 15-mile swath of broken trees in its wake while miraculously missing nearby structures.

When all responding SAR members arrived at the building, we took off toward Bellemont, watching the dark clouds swirl overhead, scanning the sky near and far for any sign of more funnel clouds forming. As we drove, we talked about where we could take cover. One of my teammates pointed out a ditch and culvert, while another mentioned an overpass somewhere ahead that we could park beneath.

At one point, some of us stopped to set up a road block, directing drivers to turn around in the median and go back to Flagstaff. Semi trucks had been turned over on I-40 and another tornado had been spotted, heading toward the highway and again the Bellemont neighborhood.

A DPS officer eventually arrived to take over the road block, relieving us so we could continue on to the command center, at that time located in the fire station near the original tornado's path. The rain resumed full force as we passed Camper's World, where RVs had been mangled and tossed every which way in the parking area and sales yard. Debris was scattered across the road and median.

We waited at the fire station for assignments, listening to radio traffic about more tornadoes forming as we watched the lightning, rain, wind, and hail from the dry side of the bay windows.

Some time later, we were relocated to the NOAA building at Camp Navajo, considered a more secure building. Weather Service personnel were staring at their banks of colorful computer monitors and busily walking desk to desk, room to room, calm but clearly running on adrenaline. One man said, "This is what we all train for but hope never happens."

Eventually, SAR personnel were sent into the field to do welfare checks and damage assessments, with the exception of me and one other team member, who were asked to stay behind to monitor the radios, record the transmissions and activities on the computer, and do some mapping. The others headed out to get very wet while canvassing the Bellemont neighborhood.

At the end of the day, patches of blue sky began to emerge. The tornado warnings subsided and later the watch was lifted. The severe and unusual storm had left behind lots of damage and some minor injuries but, thankfully, no serious physical trauma or loss of life.

The next day, SAR teams were dispatched to search Forest Service roads, to make sure no campers or hunters had been stranded or injured.

*********************
Per the National Weather Service on October 6,2010....

A STRONG PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM LOCATED ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COMBINED WITH SUBSTANTIAL MOISTURE MOVING NORTH FROM MEXICO...LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE REGION WEDNESDAY. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL WERE RECEIVED...AS WELL AS FIVE CONFIRMED TORNADOES.

TORNADOES...

BLUE RIDGE...(153-212 AM)...FOREST SERVICE AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEES VERIFIED A 10-15 MILE PATH WITH NUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND SEVERAL FOREST ROADS BLOCKED. DAMAGE INTENSITY VARIED CONSIDERABLY ALONG PATH, WHICH VARIED FROM 75 TO 400 YARDS WIDE.

BELLEMONT TORNADO #1...(507-535 AM)...CONSIDERABLE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE IN AND AROUND THE COMMUNITY OF BELLEMONT. AREAL AND GROUND SURVEYS VERIFIED A SEMI-CONTINUOUS TORNADO PATH FROM AT LEAST 9 MILES SOUTH OF BELLEMONT...EXTENDING NORTHWARD CROSSING HIGHWAY 180 NORTHWEST OF FLAGSTAFF. TOTAL PATH LENGTH OF AT LEAST 22 MILES. PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES OF DAMAGE INTENSITY IN THE COMMUNITY OF BELLEMONT PUT THIS TORNADO AT EF-1 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. MOST INTENSE DAMAGE (NOT YET RATED) WAS IN THE FOREST SOUTH AND JUST NORTH OF BELLEMONT.

BELLEMONT TORNADO #2...(558-640 AM)...THIS TORNADO CAUSED EXTENSIVE FOREST DAMAGE (PRIMARILY SOUTH OF BELLEMONT)...ALONG A CONTINUOUS TRACK WHICH EXTENDED FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF BELLEMONT...EVENTUALLY CROSSING HIGHWAY 180 NORTHWEST OF FLAGSTAFF. 28 RAIL CARS DERAILED IN BELLEMONT...WITH ADDITIONAL STRUCTURAL AND AUTO DAMAGE. TOTAL PATH LENGTH OF AT LEAST 30 MILES. NO TORNADO INTENSITY HAS BEEN ESTIMATED YET.

MUNDS PARK...(1208-1220 PM)...THIS TORNADO WAS SIGHTED CROSSING INTERSTATE 17 MOVING NORTHBOUND...LATER OBSERVED 4 MILES SOUTH OF THE COUNTRY CLUB NEIGHBORHOOD ON THE EAST SIDE OF FLAGSTAFF. LITTLE SURFACE DAMAGE REPORTED AT THIS TIME.

AN ADDITIONAL TORNADO TRACK WAS DISCOVERED NORTH AND WEST OF FORT VALLEY NEAR THE FLAGSTAFF NORDIC CENTER. THIS TRACK WAS DISTINCTLY SEPARATE FROM THE TWO EARLIER BELLEMONT TORNADO TRACKS...HOWEVER APPEARED TO BE MUCH SHORTER IN LENGTH.

HAIL REPORTS...

CORNVILLE..........................2.00 INCH DIAMETER
PARKS..............................1.75 INCH DIAMETER
TEEC NOS POS.......................1.75 INCH DIAMETER
RIMROCK............................1.25 INCH DIAMETER
KACHINA VILLAGE....................1.00 INCH DIAMETER
COTTONWOOD 1 MI SOUTH..............1.00 INCH DIAMETER
MUNDS PARK 5 MI NORTH..............1.00 INCH DIAMETER

See also:

  News video: 'Tornado train' rocks Arizona

Article: Bellemont Becomes Tornado Alley

Photos of tornado aftermath

Update: 8 Tornadoes now confirmed

Mountain Rescue Association Tests: One Down, Two To Go

Our team has decided to apply for membership in the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA). The MRA is made up of mountain rescue teams from around the country and has strict requirements for membership. The teams make up the association rather than individual members.

To become accredited by MRA, a team has to pass three different field tests based on guidelines established by the association. The tests are conducted on appropriate terrain in the team's home area by at least three current MRA teams working together to evaluate the applicant group that's being tested. The tests include high-angle rescue (rock rescue), ice and snow, and wilderness search. Accredited teams must retest every five years to maintain their accreditation.

From the MRA website: 

"The Mountain Rescue Association ... was established in 1959 at Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood, Oregon, making us the oldest Search and Rescue association in the United States.With over 90 government authorized units in the US, Canada and other countries, the MRA has grown to become the critical mountain search and rescue resource in the United States.

"Because MRA teams are test-qualified by their peers, local, state, and federal agencies feel confident about working with them on search and rescue operations."

Our team was very happy to pass the first of three tests: Wilderness Search. It was run like any real search operation that's gone beyond the hasty search phase. In this case, the hasty phase was verbalized by our coordinator as all participants and evaluators gathered around the command trailer for the briefing. As usual, searchers were given packets with information about the missing subjects, maps of the area, the weather forecast, and safety and communications information. When all field teams had their assignments, we headed out to do what we always do... except, this time, we were being watched and evaluated and had to answer evaluators' questions as we worked.

All in all, the mission went really well. Teams located most of the clues that had been placed in the rather large search area, and we located both subjects, one of whom required medical evaluation and care and a litter evacuation to an imaginary waiting ambulance. The other subject, who was mobile, was found by one of the containment teams driving Forest Service roads.

At the end of the mission later that afternoon, evaluators met privately to discuss the operation and how we did, then came over to our waiting group to give us feedback and announce that we'd passed. Yay!

And now for test number two, rock rescue, in October. So, that means extra practice for many of us on the technical rescue team. Here's Patrick practicing a mid-face litter scoop in the SAR building (without the cliff face, that is):

The rescuer gets the injured victim into the "tuxedo" to protect his spine.

The rescuer maneuvers the patient into the litter.

Tah-dah! Ready for raise.

 In other Coconino County SAR news, our team was involved in a body recovery below Midgley Bridge in Sedona. See: Midgley Bridge Suicide Briefly Closes 89A.

Back Home And Back To SAR

I hadn't planned to respond to any SAR calls for at least a week after coming home from Nepal. I figured I'd take a little break after being on the other side of the planet for a few months, spend some time catching up on my to-do list, reorganize my SAR pack, and generally just chill out.

But I couldn't resist. A couple of days after I got back, when there was a second call-out within a half hour for more volunteers to assist Yavapai County Search and Rescue with a search for a missing two-year-old, I dialed the SAR line after listening to the message and left one of my own. "This is Deb, number 6-2-0. I'm responding."

The call was for the following morning, to meet at the SAR building at 6 a.m. Soon after getting there, I was headed south to Beaver Creek Campground near Sedona with a teammate from general SAR along with a member of the mounted unit and his horse. Coconino County SAR had been assisting with this search for the previous two days, also.

When we got to the staging area and signed in, the three of us were given our assignment: a rather large, rugged area, thick with cat claw and cactus. One boundary of our search area was the creek that runs alongside the campground from which little Sylar Newton had gone missing in the middle of the night a few days earlier.

We searched as thoroughly as we could all day, doing our best to stay hydrated and focused as we dripped with sweat in the intense heat and humidity. We called in anything we found that we thought had any possibility of being important to the mission, giving a description and coordinates to Incident Command. A deputy came out to inspect and collect some of the items we located.

At the end of day four of the search, Syler was still missing. And he's still missing today, the end of day seven.

While this search was going on, members of our team were also helping in neighborhoods east of Flagstaff impacted by flash flooding. These floods are the result of charred soil on the peaks from the huge Schultz wildfire earlier this summer, unable to absorb all of the monsoon rain. That fire was started by an abandoned campfire and burned more than 15,000 acres. The resulting floods have caused extensive property damage to area residents and one death, when a 12-year-old girl was swept away.

On Thursday and Friday, I responded to more calls for SAR assistance in the flood areas, but my contribution (going door-to-door passing out flood advisory information) was minimal compared to the days of neighbors helping neighbors and other Flagstaff residents volunteering to fill and stack sandbags, shovel mud, and anything else they can do help those in need, including some whose homes appear to be a complete loss.

Related article: Rain Outlook Bad For Schultz Flood Area

Watching Coconino County SAR From Nepal

Note: When I first wrote this post, there was a video available That video is no longer online, but this is what I wrote:

Here's a video from a recent SAR call in Flagstaff, in which Coconino County Sheriff's Search & Rescue, along with Flagstaff Fire and Guardian medics, carry out an injured hiker on Fatman's Loop.

Every time there's a call-out, I get an email, so I know what kinds of missions are happening. And later, some of my teammates fill me in on the details. They know how nosy... uh, how curious I am, even from 8,000 miles away. I also get emails about all the good trainings going on for general SAR, like advanced man-tracking and the three-day navigation boot camp, and for the technical rescue team, including mid-face patient care and mid-face litter scoops and a simulation drill of a search for a downed aircraft with injuries and evacuation. Fun stuff!

*sigh* I miss the team.

Over The Edge: Technical Rescue Simulations

Most of us didn't know this would be a simulation instead of just a regular training session—not until we got to the site and were suddenly given a briefing and our initial assignments. But as flustered as I was at first, I'm glad we did this and hope we'll do more mock technical rescues in the near future. Putting skills together under pressure—and, simulated or not, I definitely felt the pressure—is a good way to test yourself and the team, to really see where improvement and more practice is needed.

So, there were two victims over the edge following a car crash (drunk driving, I heard). This was considered "steep-angle" terrain, not low-angle and not high-angle (a cliff) either. The footing was precarious, with loose rocks all over—a significant hazard for both rescuers and victims below—which is why one of the victims got up and moved when I started coming down with the first litter, dislodging rocks as I went. Definitely something I need to pay more attention to and not descend directly above anyone. BIG note made to self on that one!

Matter of fact, my notes to self during yesterday's exercise (well, exercises, because we did more than one) could have filled several notebook pages if I'd written them all down. They included things like, "Practice, practice, practice your knots, Deb," and "When on a steep-angle raise, attach a prusik from my harness to either the main line or belay line and another from my harness to the litter, then lean back. Let the haulers do the work and don't try to lift the litter." Boy, did I learn that second thing the hard way!

Here are some photos from the day's first exercise:

As part of the hasty team, Sueanne (in black) prepares to rappel down to one of the two patients to asses his condition. Meanwhile, another member of the hasty team (not in the picture) rappels to the second patient...

Robert sets up a wrap three/pull two anchor for a raising system...

Scott works the 540 belay....

                

And in other news...

It looks like I'll be attending a seven-day Ropes That Rescue Mountain Rescue Workshop in Sedona in February. I definitely need to have my knots down pat by then!

A Christmas Without SAR

Since the round-the-clock SAR missions involving dozens of stranded hunters a few weeks ago, there hasn't been a peep from SAR central. Which drives home the fact that search and rescue really has become a big part of my life. When we go through a quiet stretch, I sure notice the difference. Too much time on my hands. (Isn't that a song?)

I also realize how often I've not done things—not gone to the movies, not gone out of town for a weekend—so I wouldn't chance missing a SAR call. And that's just plain silly. So, one of my own New Year's resolutions is to go about my life and not worry about when there might be a call-out. I do love to participate, but that definitely shouldn't get in the way of doing other things... right? But I'll still continue to keep all of my gear in my car, just in case.

Anyhow, during this lull, I've read another SAR-related book, though this one is very much from a victim's perspective and doesn't involve a lot of search and rescue action. Angels in the Wilderness: The True Story of One Woman's Survival Against All Odds is a gripping firsthand account about being severely injured deep in the backcountry, while no one knows where the injured solo hiker is and won't miss her for days to come.

This hiker was Amy Racina, who fell 60 feet in a remote part of King's Canyon National Park, breaking both legs. Battling pain, fear, and exhaustion, she survived for four days, pulling herself inch-by-inch along a ravine until her calls were heard by a man who was partially deaf.

One of the most riveting aspects of the story, in my opinion, was the fact that one difference amongst a number of events that led to her rescue could very well have cost Amy her life. I mean, what if the hiking party who found her had canceled their trip for some reason or chosen another route? Or left even one day later? What if Amy hadn't been calling for help at the time the hikers happened to pass by above her—hikers she couldn't see or hear from the ravine? What if she hadn't dragged herself up the ravine but had stayed where she'd fallen? The hikers would probably never have heard her. Amy questions those and other circumstances that fell into place to ultimately save her life at close to the last minute.

I really found this book interesting and inspiring, which is why I read from sundown to sunup until I'd turned the last page.
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If you want to read my opinion of other SAR-related and wilderness survival books, I review each one I read here: Wilderness Survival and Rescue Reading.