Commander’s Corner

It has been relatively quiet lately for missions – kind of a relief after last year.  With the warm weather the last couple of weeks, don’t get tricked into unloading your winter gear just yet.  Some of the worst surprise snowstorms can catch folks unprepared during March and April.  Many years ago I was caught in a whiteout blizzard “Thunder Snow” on Four Peaks in early April.  A close lightning strike convinced my backpacking partner and I to head for a lower elevation.  In retrospect, being flatlanders at the time, we were seriously unprepared for a backpacking trip into a blizzard.  After a few years in Colorado, and in the Oregon Cascades in the wintertime, in a few whiteout blizzards, I have learned just how unprepared we were.  Living in the desert, it is easy for folks to not understand just how harsh Mother Nature can be just a few miles and a few thousand feet higher in elevation.

Recent Mission Summaries: 

2/15/09 – East Verde Park – A young man climbed up into the rocks above the river to get some pictures, and got to a point where he didn’t feel safe going up or down.  We responded, and got a couple of rope rescue members above him, secured a rope, and assisted him in rappelling down to where he could hike out safely.

2/27/09 – Punkin Center – Overdue party had been missing since the 25^th.  GCSO put out an ATL (Attempt To Locate), and had checked recreation sites, main roads, some backroads, with no success.  GCSO received some information that could better pinpoint a possible area to search so we were called in to run some roads with quads and jeeps.  GCSO also had a helicopter flying over the area.  While we were searching, a citizen reported an apparently abandoned vehicle to GCSO that matched the description of the vehicle we were looking for.  We investigated, found the subject’s vehicle, and after a short search, found the subject deceased nearby.

We had good turnout for both of these missions – thanks for your preparation and dedication.

Stay safe and stay prepared.

Bill Pitterle – Commander, #500

Don’t forget; the meetings this month are March 10th for the Board and March 12th for the General Meeting.

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Missions

http://www.trsar.org/missions_recent/EastVerdeRiver/EastVerdeRiver.htm

A 17 year old male crossed the East Verde river to climb up some cliffs to get pictures and couldn't get back down.  Subject's mother called the Sheriffs office for help.  Tonto Rim Search and Rescue's technical rope team was called to help the young man down.  There was a good turnout from Tonto Rim Search and Rescue personnel and subject was easily retrieved. 

March 2009 Training & Events Schedule

14-Mar (Sat)   Tracking Classroom (full session) – Time: 0900 – Place: Squad Bldg. – Les Hulse in charge

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28-Mar. (Sat)  Rope Training – Time: 0800 – Place: Box Canyon – Roger Miotto and rope instructors in charge

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Planned Training Sessions ( Coming this Year)

4-5 Apr(Sat-Sun)                 SAR Academy – Place: Squad building – Time: 0800-1600 – This is a mandatory training  for squad members who haven’t taken it – Any member can also take it again.

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9-May (Sat)    Tracking Practice – Time: TBA – Place: TBA – Les Hulse in charge

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13-Jun (Sat)   Tracking Certification – Time: TBA – Place: TBA – Les Hulse in charge

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Planned          Navigation Training – Compass and GPS

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Planned               Mock Mission

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Planned               ATV overnight ride   120 miles

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?      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

Squad Web Site:  www.trsar.org

Laws that are still on the books

  In Seattle, Washington, it is unlawful for goldfish to ride a city bus in a bowl unless they are kept still.

  Camels are not allowed to wander the streets unattended in Galveston, Texas.

  Don’t molest an alligator in Miami; it’s against the law.

Question for the Month:

Can you Change from UTM to Lat and Lon on your GPS ?. If not you NEED to LEARN.  .

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Training, Why You Should Participate

Participation in training is important to each and every squad member no matter how experienced you are. 

As a new member, participating in training is obvious.  It allows you, a new member to TRSAR, to become knowledgeable in the skills necessary to carryout our missions.  For the newer members it would be best to participate at least once in each of the various skills taught: GPS, mantracking, map reading, line search, rope rescue, CPR and First Aid, duce and-a-half, shelter building, fire starting, Project Lifesaver, swiftwater, etc.  In the case of man tracking and rope rescue you may be interested enough in participating in additional training to become certified in the skill.  Becoming certified may take a year or two to complete all of the requirements. 

As an experienced member it is still important to participate in training.  First, participating in training helps to keep your skills polished.  Second and probably most important, participating in training allows you to share your knowledge and experience with the newer members.  Having experienced members to work beside is a very effective way for new members to gain knowledge. 

As a Squad leader it is also important to participate in training in order to understand the skills of the members.  When a mission is being organized it is important to be able to assign members based upon skills.  In some cases we wear a patch to demonstrate we have knowledge of a skill.  But in other cases there is no patch.  We need to be able to judge not just who has a GPS, but who has the skill to use it effectively. 

It is incumbent upon us all, new members as well as experienced members, to participate in training.  To learn, to share, to assess.

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Computer Tips, Techniques, Rants, Raves, and Netiquette

submitted by Les Hulse

To continue the information on software that I use, this month I will give you an in-depth article on how my PC is set-up for security and safety. As a bonus, you can completely protect your PC for the low cost of $0.00 – in other words, for free. This discussion is for Windows systems.

 There are 2 parts to my security system: 1 – the active programs that are constantly running, and 2 – the passive programs that I run weekly to check for spyware and other “nasties.”

 The active security programs have Icons or symbols that are displayed on your taskbar. The taskbar that is normally on the bottom edge of your display screen can contain a lot of information. What is our concern this month is what appears on the right end of the taskbar. These are the programs that start whenever you turn on the PC and that are running while your PC is on. The right side end of my task bar looks like the following:

The identification of each program is as follows:

     Print Screen Deluxe - normally not running – it just allows me to make these graphics.

     WinPatrol – notifies the user when a program tries to change the PC startup procedure.

      Zone-Alarm – the firewall program.

     AVG Anti-Virus – the anti-virus program.

     Volume Control – a system program.

      Safely Remove Hardware – a system program to allow safe disconnection of USB and Firewire devices.

 So for everyday operations, all of the above listed programs except Print Screen Deluxe are running all the time. The basic line of defense for protecting the PC are the 3 programs: Zone-Alarm (firewall) – AVG Anti-Virus (anti-virus) – WinPatrol (system change monitor).

 The firewall protects your PC by monitoring what is entering your PC from the Web or by Email and also monitoring what is being sent from your PC. The emphasis is primarily on programs, networks, downloads, and uploads.

 The anti-virus scans incoming and outgoing data and programs for viruses, Trojan horses, worms, etc. It is particularly important to use the Email scanner tool to prevent infections and also to prevent sending infections if your PC is affected by something nasty.

 The system change monitor alerts you when a program tries to change something in the system. The most common thing is that an installation procedure wants to allow the program to start running every time you turn on the PC. NOTE: If you have a lot of icons on the right side of your taskbar, you have a lot of programs running – even if you are not going to be using them (think computer running slower and slower).

  Once upon a time a long time ago when I was just a youth, I used to use the expensive programs for computer protection – you know, the ones that hit you for $50 up front and then hit you for a yearly update fee. I found that as these products kept adding features (???), they started to become unstable, bloated, and trouble prone. So I decided to use the above listed programs because they do the job they were designed to do, are small in size, and do not try to be “everything for everybody.” My result has been a PC that is adequately protected – I have not been hit with a virus in the last 8-9 years.

 I have 3 additional programs that I run once each week normally on Saturday or Sunday. These programs detect all sorts of bad stuff or spyware contained in malicious ads and pages from web sites. These programs are: Ad-Aware (malicious ad infection remover), Spybot Search & Destroy (spyware “bot” remover), and Spyware Blaster (spyware monitor). Each week, the data for these 3 programs is updated, and then each program scans the PC for problems. In the case of spyware, the PC can be immunized so that the spyware infection cannot be installed from a bad web site.

 I also run a full system virus scan once a week. This is just a precautionary step since both the firewall and anti-virus programs check for updates several times a day.

 The remaining things I do for security is use programs that were listed in a previous article. These include secure erasing of files and making backups of the system at regular intervals.

 There are several “good practices” in using computers that also assist in keeping one’s computer secure. I hesitate to write this part since it could be an article on its own, but oh well, I will do a summary of a few suggestions anyway.

 If you do not use programs that have a tendency to be attacked by spyware, viruses, etc. your PC will be more secure. For example, since the people who write all the “bad stuff” try to target the largest audience, they will go after Internet Explorer instead of other web browsers like Firefox (which I use) or Opera.

 Storing passwords to web sites, personal information, or any financial information like bank account numbers and credit card numbers on your PC is potentially dangerous. If your PC is not protected, this data could be captured and sent somewhere – think identity theft. It is safer to enter it as needed.

 A variation of the above is to also not store any of your financial information on a vendor’s web site. It is better to enter everything again when you place an order rather than have the vendor keep your information in their databases. Remember, vendor’s sites also get attacked, and your information may be compromised.

Use good, cryptic passwords for web sites, not your children’s or pet’s names for example.

 Password protect your PC and maybe encrypt all of your data – particularly if you use a laptop. Simple theft of your unprotected PC containing personal information can result in ID theft.

 Do not open Email attachments unless you really trust the sender. Really, really don’t open attachments if you do not know the sender.

 Well, I guess I rambled on enough for this month. If you want any of these topics expanded, let the editor know.

 Stay safe out there … Les

Question: Do any of you find this section useful?

We can rant and rave about many topics, but do not know if it is appreciated. Also, we will most likely choose topics that “tick us off” and ignore the ones that you may be interested in. We can give you our opinion on just about anything (opinions are cheap).

So let us know if this section is useful, and if you would like us to tear into some topic, just tell us.

Send any comments and/or suggestions to the editor; Mike – address at bottom of newsletter.

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.

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

Related SAR info

http://debssarstories.blogspot.com:80/

Deb's Search & Rescue stories

Shhhh.....

Posted: 13 Feb 2009 11:21 PM PST

Be vewwwwy quiet. My pager has been, anyway.

Just a shout out to let ya'll know I'm still here, in case you were wondering perhaps. It's just that my SAR pager hasn't made a peep in ... hmm ... what's it been? At least a couple of weeks.

And that's a good thing. I mean, as much as I love being on the team and participating with missions, I don't WISH for people to get hurt, stranded or lost, especially in the very wintry weather we've had lately. (Not to mention that it certainly is nice to be warm and cozy inside when it's snowing like crazy and c-c-cold outside.)

Anyhow, in the meantime, I've been reading away. More SAR stuff, of course, including Heart of the Storm: My Adventures as a Helicopter Rescue Pilot and Commander by Colonel Edward Fleming. I wrote a little review on my other SAR blog, SARstoriesNews, if you're interested.

Now, though, as I take a break from books about helicopters (which I seem to have developed a bit of a fascination with over the past year or so), I'm reading a piece of fiction for a change, called The Wall by Jeff Long, a thriller that takes place on Yosemite's El Capitan. (I'm giving you the Amazon links, but I've found these books at our local library, so you probably can, too.)

Anyhow, I'll be back to babbling when something babble-worthy happens.

http://www.sarstories.com/

I was in my ninth month of pregnancy and feeling very uncomfortable. On top of everything, my pleas for sympathy seemed to go unnoticed by my husband.

One day, I told him, "I hope in your next life, you get to be pregnant!"

He replied, "I hope in your next life, you get to be married to someone who's pregnant!"

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Thanks to those who contributed to this issue of the newsletter.  

Mike 502  editor@trsar.org