Congratulations Are in Order

Recently, at both the Arizona State Search & Rescue Conference and last night's Coconino County Board of Supervisors meeting here in Flagstaff, our coordinator, Sergeant Aaron Dick, and long-time volunteer Dennis Gill were both honored for their excellent work with the team. Aaron was awarded Arizona SAR Coordinator of the Year, and Dennis, who's been with the team for 25 years, was given the award for Arizona SAR Volunteer of the Year.

That's Aaron on the left, behind the lady in purple, and Dennis on the right.

Many of our team members showed up to support Aaron and Dennis, wearing our uniform shirts. Half the room was a sea of yellow.

And there's Beverly, sneaking in behind the Board of Supervisors to take pictures as Sheriff Bill Pribil presents Aaron with his plaque.

I know the whole team was proud of our leader and of Dennis's many years of volunteer service. They're both so great at what they do and totally deserve the recognition. Congratulations, guys!

And as far as recent call-outs go...

On Monday morning, the team began a search in the area of Sycamore Canyon for two overdue hikers, who'd intended to go for a day hike on Saturday. The team had fanned out to first search for their Jeep because the reporting party, the wife of one of the hikers, was unsure of their exact destination.

Our plan was that, once the subjects' vehicle was located, that team would begin a hasty search on foot. But the two subjects were able to make a cellphone call to the reporting party before we found their Jeep. They emerged uninjured from the canyon a short time later, having been lost for 48 hours without cell service. See: Overdue Hikers Emerge Unscathed.

This morning, there was a call regarding two overdue hunters, but they too showed up as SAR was en route.

Basic SAR Academy: The Final Exam

Twenty-four new members have now been added to our general SAR team following yesterday's final exam, a mock search and rescue in the Walnut Canyon area near Flagstaff. 

The call-out came at about 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, when students, experienced team leaders, and other current members responded to the SAR building, as they would for a real call-out.

Once everyone was assembled and the gear loaded, our captain, Howard (pictured here), made sure everyone was accounted for. We were then briefed by our coordinator and divided into field teams before heading to the staging area.

Our coordinator, who would be acting as IC (incident command) along with our captain, had no idea where the two lost subjects were located. Only the subjects, who were also volunteers from our team, and one other member knew their location. 

When we arrived at the staging area at the subjects' PLS (point last seen), we team leaders were given our assignments and then relayed that information to the rest of our field team. Team leaders were all experienced SAR members whose job it was to answer students' questions and make suggestions to "keep the ball in play." But it was up to the new folks to work together and figure things out while navigating and using the radio to communicate with IC and with other teams.

In this photo, my team hikes part of the Arizona Trail, calling the subjects' names, blowing whistles, and interviewing passing hikers, horseback riders, and mountain bikers. They also looked for boot tracks going off the main trail.

Eventually, another field team located the reporting party—one of the two missing hikers—who'd left his injured companion and climbed up out of the canyon to get a cellphone signal to call for help. Since the initial call, his cellphone battery had died, preventing any further communication. And he'd been lost, he said, at the time he called.

This one subject, while still confused about where he was, was able to give some details that helped the team locate the second subject at the bottom of the canyon. A (real) witness description from a child hiking with her parents also helped the team find the injured hiker.

Once the second subject was located, other field teams converged at that location, including the evac team with the litter and other medical equipment.

Then, the new members splinted the patient's (fake) broken ankle and were shown how to package her in the litter. Everyone had a chance to help carry the patient out.

Kay was such a good sport! She and Jerry, the other lost subject, had to sit around a long time before they were found. At least it was a warmer-than-usual fall day.

Despite some confusion with radio communication, which is to be expected with so many field teams and new members, things went really well.

I wish we always had this many people to carry a litter!

We finished up the mission and were back at the SAR building around 6:30 p.m.

Later that night, there was a real call-out at 8:00. That one, for an injured hiker on Mt. Agassiz, was canceled after about five minutes, when the hiker made it to the parking lot and refused further assistance.

There was another call at 4:00 this morning. That call was also canceled, but not before about 15 volunteers, both new and not, responded to the SAR building and loaded gear.

Hopefully, the turnout will continue to be that good.

Are They Really Missing?

That's the question I couldn't help but wonder about all day. I tried not to think about it, though, and to focus instead on what we were doing: searching. But the information we had was sketchy, and the circumstances were such that the two people we were looking for could have been anywhere.

That's what it's like with search and rescue sometimes. There's not always a call for help from a lost subject on a cellphone. There's not always an empty vehicle sitting at a trailhead.  Sometimes, a person is reported overdue and their exact destination is unknown. So, our SAR leaders go with the information they do have, and we volunteers get our assignments and search the most likely areas. Sometimes, those search areas can be very large and change as more information becomes available.

In this case, we were looking for a couple in their 70s, one of whom uses oxygen, who'd apparently gone to cut firewood but hadn't returned home the night before, so said a concerned neighbor. And being a concerned neighbor is a good thing, I'd say. Many times, concern for someone else's well-being or their home saves the day, so it's better to be safe than sorry and report those concerns. Imagine not doing so and then regretting it when things turn out badly.

So, it didn't bother me when, after hours of driving around in the Polaris Ranger, following vehicle tracks here, there, and anywhere they went within our large search area, and my teammates doing the same on ATVs and the DPS helicopter searching from above, we found out that the couple was just fine and had never been missing at all. They'd simply been... well, somewhere else.

Okay, so maybe I rolled my eyes and laughed a little at the situation as I tried to dust myself and my backpack off and pick the dirt out of my teeth. But I was happy that things had ended well. I was also relieved that some of the other scenarios that had been passing through my brain all day had not come true.

Besides, I learned some new tracking skills while we were out there. My teammate who was with me on the Polaris was with the Border Patrol for 27 years, so this experienced tracker could tell the type of vehicle at a glance, the direction of travel, and the age of the tracks by just by touching his finger to the dirt and by the color. He patiently took the time to show me what he was doing. So, thank you, Steve, for teaching me some new stuff!