Local Snow Conditions
Videos
Tuesday
Apr132010

Director's Dialogue April 2010

As most of you know Bill Fertig last month lost his son Sean and that Bill, due to unknown health issues, was admitted and still is in the hospital. The SAR Council, Volunteer Forces and the Department has requested that if you and/or your unit would like to send cards and/or a donation please do so by sending them to:

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Apr072010

BSAR 01-2010 Graduates

Congratulations to the graduates of the Sheriff's Basic Search & Rescue Academy, Class 01-2010! 

Air Medics: Bernard Horak, Roy Kim, Richard Orton, Stephen Patterson, Daniel Word Jr.               
Apple Valley Mounted Sheriff’s Posse: Darlene Bray, Mark Bray, Carey Carr, Glenn Carr, Steven Chester, Dawn Stoecker                    
Barstow Desert Rescue Squad: Robert Riley
Bear Valley SAR: Duane Dickerson, Deputy John Everman (Coordinator), Deputy Christopher Morsch (Coordinator), Joshua Taylor
Incident Support Unit: Dennis Stiles          
Morongo Basin SAR: David Larus, Bobby Pilgrim
Rim of the World SAR: Ken Anthony
San Gorgonio SAR: Barra Franklin, Shane Franklin
San Bernardino Mountain SAR: Pamela Conrad, Jose Frausto, Margo Machen, Ryan Olney          
Victor Valley SAR: Matthew Twiss
Wrightwood/Phelan SAR: Joshua Conaway
West Valley Mounted Sheriff’s Posse: AJ Joubert
West Valley SAR: Deputy Ryan Norkunas (Coordinator)
Central Station: Deputy Laurel Mitchell    

All 30 students who began the academy on February 27th and one student who was unable to complete the final weekend of session 02-2009 due to illness graduated on Sunday March 28th.

Monday
Apr052010

NASAR SARTECH II Examination

The Sheriff's Basic Search & Rescue Academy Staff will be holding a NASAR SARTECH II Examination the weekend of June 5th and 6th, 2010. 

The BSAR Academy was restructured a couple of years ago to better prepare our new SAR Volunteers for their first field deployments.  The NASAR SARTECH II Examination was removed from the Academy because the lecture portions could not be adequately covered without adding an additional weekend to the course.  While the NASAR SARTECH II certification is not required for new members to participate in field deployments, it is strongly recommended, and it is a prerequisite for future certification as a SARTECH I. 

I encourage everyone who has graduated from BSAR since January, 2008 to consider taking this examination.  SAR Registration forms are available for download on the DOCUMENTS page.

Monday
Mar152010

TRBC 2010 (Updated Information Posted!)

The Sheriff's Technical Rescue Basics Course for 2010 begins on Friday April 9th, 2010.  The course flyer and participant information flyer are posted on the DOCUMENTS page.  Get your SAR Registration in the mail to guarantee your spot in the course.

Saturday
Mar132010

Cave Team Receives BioPak Rebreather Training

The Cave and Technical Rescue Team took possession of a number of BioPak 240 rebreathers that were purchased by The State of California as part of a grant. The "User" level of training was completed on Saturday with members of 3 Los Angeles County SAR teams at the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team's station. The 8 hour training included leak testing, flow testing, and other information required to operate the equipment. The second half of the day concluded with about 30 minutes "under oxygen" where we walked around the surrounding neighborhood. The day concluded with a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all the equipment. Training Sunday will be for "Benchmen", and will include periodic maintenance tasks. We will cover proper o-ring lubrication, more detailed leak detection, and other related service concerns. Our job will be to reassemble all of the cleaned and disinfected devices from Saturday.

Monday
Mar082010

Hiker Survives in Snow Cave Before Rescue

On Sunday, March 7 a hiker got seperated from his partner about noon on the summit of Mt. Baldy in 10 ft visibility and high winds.  He had never been there before, so he was completely unaware of the terrain and area.  He tried several times with his map & compass to make his way down, but would get to a point and not recognize the area and would go back up to the top.  

At 1600 hrs he dug a snow cave for the night.  He heard 40-King but it was clouded in and could not see them. 40-King at first could not search the area between 8,000 and 10,500 ft due to clouds, so we were gearing up for a long search with 10 assignments that needed about 30 to 40 searchers. 40-King tried one more time before the end of their shift, after the summmit briefly cleared of clouds, and saw our subject with his headlamp waving. They picked him up and brought him down to Cow Canyon Saddle at about 2230 hrs, ending the mission on a happy note.  

Our subject was very smart and stayed put, instead of heading down into any direction off the mountain, since he had no idea where he was.  We have had several lost hikers in the past in the same conditions who have actually travelled west and north, going deeper into the wilderness of Fish Fork and Iron Mtn.

Sunday
Mar072010

West Valley SAR and Cave & Tech Rescue Team Complete MRA Re-Accreditation

 The Cave & Technical Rescue Team and West Valley SAR spent the day Saturday re-accrediting with the Mountain Rescue Association. Each year, accredited teams in the California Region, must complete re-accreditation in one of three disciplines: Search & Tracking, Technical Rope, and Winter/Alpine. This year all teams completed the Search & Tracking exercise.

There are 19 fully-accredited MRA teams in California, so scheduling the tests is an exercise in organization. West Valley SAR and the Cave Team were on the same track. We began the day with an ELT search followed by a patient care scenario at the "crash site". The Cave Team's ELT plot from the day is shown below. For each team there were two evaluators. One evaluator accompanied the team in the field and the other evaluator assessed the command post crew.

View MRA ELT Plot in a larger map

The rest of the morning was spent on a grid search, where teams were scored on their technique and the number of items found.

After a quick lunch our search and tracking exercise began. We were given a bit of information on our missing hiker that included the last known point (LKP). Once we received this information we had to spool up the CP and deploy teams.


View Cave Search Map in a larger map

The Cave Team deployed a team to the LKP to cut for sign and a "hasty team" to quickly search high-probability trails. After these teams entered the field we were provided a shoeprint from our missing subject on a sheet of aluminum foil. This did not photograph well, so we sketched it and made it part of the paperwork for subsequent teams. We were able to email the sketch to field teams about the same time that they came across a possible print. The field team was able to snap a photo with a cell phone, and the CP was able to confirm that the track was, indeed, the missing person's. The direction of travel was established, and further resources were deployed. After nearly 2 hours from our briefing, we located our subject.

Under an awning to avoid the rain, the day ended with our evaluators reviewing our performance and offering suggestions as to our techniques and methods. Evaluators checked for medical techniques, command post protocol, tracking methods, and how field teams and managers responded to unexpected events. In all, it is a comprehensive evaluation, and one of the most beneficial exercises that our team does each year.

Having outside observers evaluate your performance as a team is key to maintaining your team's readiness. My team's proficiency has improved steadily since initiating the MRA accreditation process nearly 10 years ago. I would highly recommend it to other teams. Full accrediation is not a simple matter, but I guarantee that your team will improve as a result. If your team is interested in pursuing MRA accreditation, feel free to contact me at any time with questions.

Tuesday
Mar022010

Director's Dialogue, March 2010

Wow did we get busy in February! Three days of call outs to San Diego County, lost snow boarders and a family in their vehicle snow bound in Big Bear. There were also evidence and recovery searches held in the Morongo Basin. Thanks to all of you who braved the weather, the distance and time to respond to these missions.

Click to read more ...

Friday
Feb262010

The Search for Chelsea King

Chelsea King was last seen on Thursday afternoon and evidence suggests that she went running in the Lake Hodges area in San Diego County. Members from SB Mountain SAR, The Cave and Technical Rescue Team, San Gorgonio SAR, Rim SAR, Valley of the Falls, and Bear Valley SAR assisted in the search. The search is scheduled to continue on Saturday. Rain is in the forecast. Below is the Team 50 track.

 

Monday
Feb222010

Open House at VFU Feb 25 1100-1400 hrs

There will be an “Open House” at Volunteer Forces on Wednesday, February 24, 2010. The time is from 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. Refreshments and snacks will be served. Take this opportunity to drop by and let Lt. Todd Paterson introduce himself to you. 

Please give me a call if you plan on attending so that we know how many snacks and refreshments will be needed. 

Lt. Paterson is hoping that he will have the opportunity to meet as many of our volunteers and department personnel as possible. I hope that you will join us in welcoming him.