SAR COORDINATES
December
2009
TONTO RIM SEARCH AND RESCUE SQUAD, Inc.
P.O. BOX
357
STRAWBERRY, AZ 85544
A
self-supporting, not-for-profit group of volunteer citizens
dedicated to improving safety in the Arizona wilderness.
Operating
under the authority of the Gila County Sheriff's Office
John Armer, Sheriff
TRSAR Squad meets monthly
General Public Welcome
2nd Thursday @ 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Payson Public Library Meeting Room
328 N. McLane Road - Payson, Arizona
Don’t forget; the
meetings this month are December 8th
for the Board
and
December 10th
for the General Meeting.
Commanders Corner
Holidays are upon us with many activities, members out of town,
etc. It becomes especially important at this time of year when
the inevitable late night call comes out that you give special
consideration as to whether you can respond and help out your
teammates.
There has been plenty of cold weather to prompt us to change
over our packs from cool weather to *cold* weather. After
spending a number of early mornings and late afternoons hunting
lately, it is seriously cold out there when you are exposed for
a number of hours. Our dry spell may be coming to an end
starting next week. The weather prognosticators are finally
indicating a pattern shift that will bring some wet and possibly
cold weather. So, in addition to cold weather gear, you might
want to check your tire chains, see if you can remember how to
install them again, and toss them into your vehicle along with a
pair of gloves for handling cold, muddy chains, and maybe a
piece of dense foam pad for your knees while crawling around
under your tire well.
Recent Mission Summaries:
If you're wondering whether the OneCall system is broken, or if
you were removed from the callout list, relax. We have been
granted a probably brief reprieve from the record pace of SAR
missions this year. I am enjoying the break.
We have had a couple of missions lately - Thanks to all who
responded to the evidence search on Nov 21, 22. The search
itself was unsuccessful, but we covered a lot of ground very
intensively.
Scott Davidson and I responded to a mission on November 27 where
a hiker got stranded in some cliffs well up into the Mazatzals.
He had taken the Rock Creek trail north from Barnhardt
trailhead, and intended to do a loop over the backbone just
south of North Peak, then loop back to the trailhead. He got off
trail near the top, got into some cliffs where he couldn't go up
and feared going down, and it was getting close to sunset. With
overnight temps expected down into the low 20's, he called for
help. Sgt Hudgens also called DPS Ranger to pinpoint his
location, and assist if possible. Fortunately, DPS Ranger was
able to offload gear, insert their medic near the hiker who
escorted him to the helicopter, and bring him back down to the
command post.
Stay safe and stay prepared.
Bill Pitterle - Commander, #500
|
December
2009 Training & Events Schedule
| The Navigation Training originally scheduled for November
will be held at 9:00 am on Saturday December 12th. The location
remains the same, the corral off of the Natural Bridge turn off.
Bring a GPS and compass if you have one. |
Planned Training Sessions ( Coming this Year)
| |
Planned Navigation Training – Compass and GPS |
| |
Planned Mock Mission |
| |
Planned ATV over night ride 120 miles |
If you would like to volunteer to run a training session, or if you
have a training session request contact any Board Member or Don
Johnson
Italics = Sign-up
required to attend this training
See following notes:
To reserve use of squad ATV, contact
Don Johnson at 928-474-5335. Jacket, gloves, boots, helmet, and eye
protection required to operate Squad ATV
Active: Members wishing to remain on active status must attend at
least three official Squad functions per quarter of the calendar
year, as well as two training exercises per six months of the
calendar year.
Reserve: Members who wish to remain on reserve status must attend at
least one official Squad function per quarter of the calendar year
as well as one training exercise per six months of the calendar
year.
Business Cards for Active Members
All active members
are permitted to have business cards with your SAR info on them. If
you do not have them yet, or if you have used up the ones you had,
contact Mike Taylor to place your order. They are nice to have when
you are doing any Squad activities, and the best part is they are
free. A common use for them is to hand out to family members of the
search/rescue subject.
Email
miket@trsar.org or call 978-8009.
Website
Tonto Rim SAR Members can now have your very own
email address through our site. Just contact our Webmaster at
jack@jackswebs.com to arrange for it, no cost to you or us.
Other
SAR News
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