Director's Dialogue, March 2010

 The Volunteer Forces Open House for Lt. Paterson went off well; we had a good number of the Executive Staff and volunteer members from our SAR, COP and EOP units who attended.  Even Sheriff Hoops came down and had a few refreshments with all of us.  It was a good day!

Lt. Paterson did realize that holding this open house during the day was going to cut down on attendance because of the number of our members who work; so here is what is going to happen.  For those of you who work there is going to be another open house from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17^th. He hopes to meet more of our volunteers at this time and hopes that many of you can attend.  There might be some green punch….who knows…lol.

Speaking of Lt. Paterson, a number of us have had the opportunity to meet with him to discuss various issues concerning SAR.  We have found him to be very open and frank, listens to our concerns and is willing to listen to any suggestions that we may have about how we can improve on a number of aspects relating to SAR.

He has requested the SAR Council to let all of you know that if you have any ideas, suggestions, concerns, changes you might like to see, things that you like etc. to get a hold of him, Dan Whitten or me and let us know what is on your mind.  To email the Lt. his address is tpaterson@sbcsd.org Dan Whitten is dwhitten@sbcsd.org or dwhitten@sbsar.org mine is davenicolet@earthlink.net or dnicolet@sbsar.org We hope to hear from you soon.

Here are some reminders from the SAR Council.  All members of our SAR units must complete ICS 100 and 200 along with NIMS 700.  We have dropped the ball on this during the last year or so.  All of our members were certified at one time, and we even taught it at BSAR to our newest members.  However, it was dropped at BSAR because of the time involved and it was much easier for the students to just take these courses on-line.  Please go back through your files and determine in your units who still needs to take these classes.  This is a requirement from Volunteer Forces and the Department.

Contact Dan Whitten or me and we will give you the information on how to get your members to take these classes on-line.  Once they have completed each class, FEMA will mail them a certification. Have your member copy it off and put that copy in their personnel file.  This is a one time only certification.  It does not, does not affect a members status about going into the field on a mission, however it does affect the reimbursement that the department might receive during a national, state or county disaster.  All new members most take these 3 classes in their first year.

SAR PACKS: Complete 24-Hours SAR Packs with all of the equipment are required to be with you when you respond to any type of mission.  At all briefings the IC will determine if you need to carry them or not.  If you are performing your specialty skills, other then just Ground Pounding, make sure you are carrying all of the equipment that is required to perform that specialty also.

UNIFORMS:  Patches are a mess! There are department requirements that must be followed.  Go to the www.sbsar.org website and get the diagram on how to place the patches.  Remind your members that if the patches are faded out that they must be replaced.  If their shirts are getting worn and faded they must also be replaced.  Remember you are representing the Department, grooming and appearance are a must.

Under our uniform shirts we are to wear WHITE CREW NECK T-SHIRTS!  It is written in department policy.  Not black, green or any other color, v-necks, none etc.  White crew necks!  So please get on board with this policy.

FIELD DEPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS:  To be field deployable on a mission each member must have attended BSAR.  Each member must be 1^st Aid/CPR Certified and each member must have his or her 24 Hours SAR Pack.  Each member must also have proof of auto insurance and health insurance.  These can be kept in their personnel files and they do not have to carry this info with them.  If you unit has additional requirements then you most meet those requirements as well

After November 1^st of this year members will also be required to have passed their Individual SAR Skills Certification before they are allowed to be in the field. So between now and November 1^st you need to get all members certified in this area.  Please remember also that if you are going to perform a specialty task then you must have also meet all of the requirements and certifications of that specialty to perform those duties while in the field.

I would also like at this time to thank a group named “Animals aRe First Fund” (ARFF) who made a sizeable cash donation to the SAR Council.  Brian Cronin who is the president of this group and who is a member of our own West Valley Posse presented us a check at one of our SAR Council Meetings.  On behalf of all of us in SAR we would like to thank Brian and this organizations membership.  I have to admit that I messed up and forgot to mention this in the Directors Dialogue’s previously and even forgot to send out a thank you letter…that has been taken care of, but I would like to publicly apologizes to this fine organization and to Brian for my untimely response and again thank them for their donation to the SAR Council.

CALENDAR

March 6 – MRA Recert – Cave and West Valley SAR

March 13 and 14 – BSAR

March 17 – Volunteer Forces Open House

March 17 – SAR Council Meeting

March 27 and 28 – BSAR (Need mentors – contact Dan Whitten)

April 9, 10 and 11 - TRBC

April 17 – MSAR County Wide Training

April 23, 24 and 25 - TRBC

May 19 – SAR Council Meeting

May 22 – SBDO Co. Sheriff Department’s Mud-Run

Jun 22 – Sheriff’s Rodeo Ride and BBQ – Los Flores Ranch

We need all of you to get signed up on our sbsar.org website with your new SAR email addresses. If you do not have the needed information to accomplish this please get a hold of Jeff Lehman or me.  Jeff’s email address is  jlehman@sbsar.org

Thanks again for all of your efforts this past month…remember, “we are members of our individual units, but we all belong to one big team”.  Until I see you again…

Be Safe

Dave Nicolet, Director

San Bernardino County Sheriff Department’s

Inland Empire Search and Rescue Council