If your haven’t heard, we now have a new lieutenant assigned to Volunteer Forces, replacing now Captain Todd Paterson, Lieutenant Mitch Dattilo. The Lieutenant has been with the department since April 1988. He is a former Explorer Scout from the Fontana Station before becoming a Reserve, than attending and graduating with the 92nd Sheriff’s Academy Class.
The Lieutenant has served in a variety of assignments. He has been assigned to the Glen Helen Rehab Center, the Yucaipa Station twice and the Employee Resources and Homicide Divisions. Most notably he has been assigned to Aviation twice where he was a fight officer and rescue crew chief. When promoted to Sergeant he then went back to Aviation, after a number of other assignments, to be their Watch Commander and Crew Chief Trainer. While serving in this capacity he then had the opportunity to work hand in hand with our Air Medic Team. During this time, with that assignment, he was also able to obtain his commercial helicopter pilots rating. He then was promoted to Lieutenant, served for a very short time with another division and then was sent to Volunteer Forces. We wish the Lieutenant the best with his new duties. All of us from the SAR community are looking forward to working closely with him in the future.
Speaking of work, thanks to all of the SAR members who showed up at your new Heart Bar Training Facility for the Cleanup Day. What a great turn out from our SAR personnel. There were many things accomplished by our 40 odd members who attended, from raking pine needles to electrical repairs, and don’t forget tractor driving…..lol.
However, even with all of the hard work that was put in, we still need to ask you again for your services for the 2nd Cleanup that is going to be held on August 25th. Starting time is at 0800 and we should be finishing up by 1500. Not sure about lunch yet, so please bring enough food and drinks for the entire day. We do need some experienced electricians, plumbers and a tractor with a Bush-Hog attachment. For more information, directions andthe type of work needed, refer to our www.sbsar.org web page. Please RSVP to me at dnicolet@sbsar.org or to John Amrhein at jamrhein@sbcsd.org if you can attend. We hope to see many of you there.
The dates for the fall class has been announced, they are: September 22 and 23, October 6 and 7 with the final weekend being held on the weekend of October 20 and 21. Again, we will be looking for Mentors for the overnight exercise on October 20. If you have served in this capacity before and if not, and you would like to get on the list for the future, contact me ASAP. Please remember that if you have members who have not re-certified with the Basic SAR Skills, that they can come to BSAR to be certified. Contact VF to reserve a place, the times of the re-certifications will be released shortly.
NOTE: As of this time we have a number of seats available for this class. Please register your members ASAP who need to attend. Go to the www.sbsar.org website, click on Documents, find the SAR Registration Form, mark the box BSAR and send it with a $50.00 check to Volunteer Forces. This needs to be done ASAP.
The next meeting of the SAR Council will be held on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. It will be at Headquarters and will start at 7 p.m.
Remember to send your Unit Representatives and remember that this meeting is open to all of our other members from our SAR Units as well.
The SAR Councils standing chairperson for this event, Diana Poe is looking for units and members who would like to help out this year. If your unit would like to set up a display and/or sell any item(s) please contact Diana at: dpoe@sbsar.org The dates are September 28, 29 and 30.
The Barstow Desert Rescue Squad will be hosting this event for the 40th year. They need your help in one area, if you have any vendors who you know of who you think may be interested in attending this years training please send the names of their companies and a contact person for that company to Steve Depue. Your help and support for this event will be deeply appreciated. Mark down on your calendar October 12, 13 and 14, 2012 so that you can attend the various trainings that will be available. We all need to support the Desert Rescue Squad and this outstanding weekend of training. Please pass the word on and attend.
Mike Ward, the Councils Rep for this program has announced that this will be held on December 8, 2012. More information about this project will be made available as the time draws nearer. Once again our SAR units will be asked to be involved with this very worth while project.
The SAR Council will be hosting this class on Sunday, September 29th. If you have any members who need to certify or re-cert please contact me with their names. If your entire SAR Unit needs to re-cert please contact Aviation to reserve a Unit Training date. This class is for members who individually need to re-qualify and who were not able to qualify for one reason or the other with their units. Remember, if they sign-up they need to attend! The class holds a minimum of 15 students to a maximum of 25 students. Reservations will be on the first-come-first-served basis.
EVOC has advised us that they have 19 slots open for this class on September 1, 2012. If you have anyone who would like to attend please contact Briana at 909-473-3888.…and please always remember to ...
Be Safe Dave Nicolet, Director Inland Empire Search and Rescue Council Dnicolet@sbsar.org