The summer heat is here and missions are becoming more frequent. When going to missions this time of the year, you should be drinking water during the drive to command. Carry a few bottles of frozen water for later in the mission. Mosquitoes are bad this time of the year, so be prepared with your favorite repellant. Some food, flashlights and extra batteries will carry you through the night when on extended missions. Be aware of other hazards, like snakes, animals that are not acting right (rabies) and the presents of bees. One of my worst nightmares is one of our squad members disturbing a nest of killer bees. Stay alert.

May 7th we had a rope rescue in Box Canyon. Only 5 rope team members were able to respond. Others from our squad did respond even though they were not on the rope team. Their help was extremely valuable. Of those on the rope team that did respond showed that training is paying off. Everyone worked well together and tasks were performed in a very timely manner. The duration of the mission from the initial callout to returning home was 3 ½ hours. This included travel time to the incident, set up time, extrication, breaking down and travel time home. This was a job well done. Everyone there should feel proud of their efforts.

The paging system we are currently using leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately Handy Page is the only provider in our area. John and Susan Spinck are new members that are coming on board. John and Susan are going to help with Call Outs. This is a good time for everyone to check their data on the roster to make sure we have everything complete and accurate. If something needs to be changed notify Les Hulse.


Thanks to all who helped with the stuffing of donation requests. The next donation stuffing party is June 1st at 1800 hours at the Squad building. This effort is paying off very well. We have received close to 100 donations so far.

Thanks for everything you do.

Stay active and stay healthy.
Dave Pirtle
Commander


Don't forget; the meetings this month are June 7th for the Board and June 9th for the General Meeting.

Alaskan Experience

Sometimes a situation produces extraordinary efforts to help those in trouble. This is a tribute to the work of the people who fly small floatplanes in some of the worst conditions possible. This is a story of some of my fisherman friends from Sitka.

About this time of year in the middle seventies Janie and I set out from Sitka to enjoy a short fishing trip with another boat, FV Sachem. In last months story I introduced you to my friend Don, the one who found Laura. He was the owner-operator.

After an uneventful trip out to a big bay south of town, I anchored the "Eagle" in a small cove behind some rocks. Don and Pauline tied alongside for dinner together. Later in the evening, they crossed the bay to anchor on the other side. After cleaning up from supper, we settled in for the night. All of the fishing fleet have at least two radios on board and most skippers leave them on all the time. Sometime shortly after dark we heard a plane overhead. They soon landed and came up to our stern to ask if we knew the location of the "Sachem". They quickly told us there was an emergency at home and needed to contact Don and Pauline ASAP. I pointed out the direction, grabbed the mike, and called the "Sachem" to alert them to get all their lights on and prepare to receive company. How did the pilot find us in the dark? How did he know that we had run out with the "Sachem"? He made two landings and two takeoffs in absolute darkness and found our boats as well. How incredible.

Our friends had a place on Harbor Mt. Rd. Like all new home sites, there is much to do to landscape. Brush and building debris are commonly burned. Don had been piling up stuff to burn. Their very beautiful responsible teenage daughter Maria chose to help by lighting it off. So, with a girlfriend to help keep it under control, they set it on fire. Now Sitka gets lots of rain, all of that stuff was soaked and did not burn well. Maria had seen dad put fuel oil on other fires to keep them going. Then without any fear she took a jerry can to the fire and dumped it upside down. Sadly, it was not fuel oil but chainsaw gas. The explosion erupted knocking her back in a ball of fire. Her friend pushed her down and got the fire out. She got help and called the fire department.

When the pilot located the "Sachem", they landed near by and explained the situation as extremely serious. Pauline loaded in the plane for the short ride to town. How that pilot found a safe place to land in the dark on the water without wrecking was incredible. Right then I had pulled the anchor and joined the "Sachem" on the way back to town. We convinced Don that he needed to be with his family too. A call to town got another plane in the air to pick up Don. By this time, dawn was approaching and visibility was good enough for Don to come up on our stern so I could climb onto his bow. Janie had taken the helm of the "Eagle" so the pilot eased up to the stern of the "Sachem" and coasting up close, cut the engine long enough for Don to step on a float, and climb in the cabin.

Maria's condition was at best very life threatening. All attempts were made at Sitka Hospital but she needed far more specialized care. Lifeflight Jet was brought in to transport her to Seattle Burn Center. During the two-hour trip, she slipped away from them and was brought back with the skill of the flight crew. Many months later, and after much painful skin grafting she was able to come home. For a long time she wore Jobst face mask and long Jobst sleeves to apply pressure to prevent the scars from becoming worse. The disfigurement was bad but very "brittle" trauma-induced-diabetes was still life threatening. For years, it was touch and go to keep it under control. After many years of healing the horror has faded a bit. Now Maria is going to be faced with some more pleasant challenges, raising a baby. Tim and Maria are going to have a baby early this fall. Pauline sent an e-mail to say that everyone is excited with the news. How wonderful it is for this young girl to have survived that massive trauma and now will become a mother. They live near Santa Fe, New Mexico and Janie and I just might have to make a trip this fall to celebrate with the young family.

And by the way, Janie had never docked the "Eagle" before nor navigated the channel into town, but with her following in my wake, she did a great job to dock without any trouble.

John Boyles 510L

_________________________________________________________________________

Taxi driver alerts authorities to man stranded in river

DES MOINES, Iowa A taxi driver helped a man stranded in the Des Moines River contact authorities and get to safety today (Friday).

Mike Seronko, a driver with the Ames Taxi Service, said he dropped off a fare in Des Moines and happened to be driving by a remote spot along the Des Moines River this (Friday) morning when he saw a man and a submerged car in the river.

He said he yelled to the man, 51-year-old Mike Parcel, of Des Moines, saying he'd call for help.
Parcel stayed on top of the submerged car while he waited for the fire department water rescue team to arrive and carry him to shore with a boat.

He was taken to Broadlawns Medical Center for a checkup.

Authorities say Parcel accidentally hit the shift lever of his car while he was lying down in the front seat. That caused the car to move into gear and roll down an embankment into the river.
 

_________________________________________________________________________

Rope gear, $200.00

Everything you need
Call for more info
Swede Carlson

                                                   468-2835 work,   476-6473 home,   595-3810 cell

Website

Tonto Rim SAR Members can now have your very own email address through our site. Just contact our Webmaster at Mail for the TRSAR Webmaster  to arrange for it, no cost to you or us.

We are promoted and you’ll also find our newsletter on the

Rim Country Volunteer site;

http://www.inpayson.com/TRSAR-Payson-Rim-Country-Area.htm

June 2005 Training Schedule