SAR COORDINATES

October 2011

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

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Don’t forget.
The meetings this month are:

Board Meeting: Tuesday the 11th, 1600 Hrs at the Squad Building.

General Meeting: Thursday the 13th, 1900 Hrs at the Library.

Fossil Springs 9/29/2011

Click image for larger version

The subject was in the round bowl in the middle of the picture. The stream splits and part of it flows into this bowl, and the rest flows down the channel. There is a strong flow into the bowl, and it had the effect of creating a strong clockwise current inside the bowl. The water level was maybe 12 ft down from the narrow ledge between the bowl and the stream, with vertical walls all the way around. There was a rope attached on this ledge that she was hanging on to. The water exits the bowl back into the stream below the stream waterline, but I don't know what that opening is like. This could be the chute the guy went through we rescued a few weeks ago. I have a call into Scott Davidson who probably knows. I think people go through this, but she said she didn't have the strength to get to it or something and wound up going around until she was able to grab this rope hanging down.

DPS Ranger dropped off of their medic/technician. He was able to get to the narrow ledge and created an anchor by slinging a rock below him on the creek side, but he didn't have any other equipment to effect a rescue. When I arrived, the helicopter circled once so I could see and I realized we would need the get her into a harness and haul her out of that hole, so I called back to have Warner bring the pickoff harness attached to the litter.

I got to the ledge the same way the medic did - by crossing the stream above the bowl, then skirting the edge of it above it. This is travertine, and extremely slick in wet shoes, so it took a while to get around. When I joined the medic on the ledge, we immediately lowered my PFD down to the subject, but she could not put it on. We then used one end of the rope I brought, put a number of figure 8 knots into it that she might be able to hold onto better, and attached it to the anchor. I secured the other end of my rope to the anchor and rapelled down into the water next to her, and locked off my brake-bar.

The first thing I did was get the PFD on her properly and secure it. Then I put the pick-off harness on. This was a pretty difficult task in a strong current, something we have never trained on. The walls of the cliff under water were very slick, so not a lot of leverage to work with. She was not able to help too much because of the long time she had been in the cold water. I eventually got it on her and once she was locked onto the rope she felt more secure and was able to help cinch it up.

Warner had arrived by this time and had another rope with him. Between some pulleys I had and some other equipment he brought, he was able to quickly create a 3:1 pulley system that they lowered down to us. I clipped it to the subject and they were able to pull her out pretty quickly. They lowered it back down and pulled me out.

Because she was pretty hypothermic, we rigged a rope along the ledge above the bowl and assisted her traverse across the slick, steep surface and back across the river. The helicopter flew her and her friend back to command first, then came back to pick up Warner and I.

PS - Scott called. He said you can get through the underwater arch into the main stream, but because of the strong whirlpool effect it can be pretty difficult. In her condition, and not knowing how to get into the arch, she may not have been able to hang on much longer without the quick response of the helicopter and getting a couple of us in there to effect a rescue.

Bill

Litter Carryout with Horse Drive

The mounted posse has worked hard to develop a method to assist in the litter carryout of subjects.

TRSAR members will still be needed to attend the litter with the main task being to keep the litter level, communicate with and keep an eye on the subject and communicate with the mounted posse members as needed.

The mounted posse have created a rope setup that allows for the horse to take on a great deal of the litter effort, especially when the terrain is rugged or uphill. The critical part of the rope set up is to allow the litter attendants to disengage the litter from the horse quickly and with little effort.

The rope going from the horse is attached loosely in a yolk fashion to a rope that is attached to the front left and front right of the litter. The rope is attached to the litter by merely wrapping the rope ends around the upper right and upper left litter rail 2-3 times.

The attendant hand is placed near the rope with a finger or two holding the rope to the litter rail. At any time, either of the front litter attendants can remove their hand from the litter rail, the rope will then loosen itself and the horse will move away without the litter.

TRSAR and mounted posse personnel demonstrated this at two recent trainings.

Kathy

Below are photos that capture the method.

Click images for larger versions

Horse, litter and attendants	Rope to horse
Close up of rope to horse and rope to litter	Demo of rope wrapped around litter rail
Close up of rope on litter rail

SQUAD OBJECTIVES:

The purpose and objectives of the Squad shall be:

A. To maintain a fully trained and qualified volunteer team on call 24 hours a day to perform search and rescue operations; and

B. To provide professional assistance on search and rescue missions, and recovery of injured or accident victims as requested by the Gila County Sheriff’s Department.

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS: (Note: changes are shown in bold)

A. All members are required to attend a Search and Rescue Academy within one year of being accepted as a member, per GCSO. Extensions may be granted on an individual bases at the Board’s discretion.

B. 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.

C. 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.

D. Technical Rope Team members must attend at least two rope-training exercises, or missions, per six months of the calendar year. Technical Rope Rescue Team members must demonstrate continued proficiency by completing an annual skills checklist.

E. Mantrackers must attend at least one classroom training per year and three field trainings, or missions, per year to maintain certification.

F. Swiftwater Rescue Team members must attend at least one swiftwater training exercises, or mission, per year.

Swiftwater Rescue Team members must demonstrate continued proficiency by completing an annual skills checklist.

October 2011 Training

SCHEDULED:

17 October (Mon) – Tracking (all levels) – Time: 1500 – Place: Road to Tonto Natural Bridge, 1 mile from Rt. 87 – Instructors: - Kim Donau and Ed Floyd

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15 and16 October (Sat and Sun) – SAR Academy - Time: 0800 – Place: Payson Public Library, Conference Room – Instructors: Ira Gibel, Terry Hudgens, Les Hulse, James Langston, Dave Pirtle, Bill Pitterle, (Bring compass Sunday)

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29 and 30 October; 5 and 6 November (Sat and Sun) – Rope training course for applicants and interested rope team members – Time: 0800 – Place: Squad Building – Instructor: Roger Miotto – Note: Applicants must attend 2 rope training exercises, or rope missions, within 6 months before this course, and 3 rope training exercises, or rope missions, within 4 months after successful completion of this course to become certified.

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Thursdays and Saturdays - SAR Dog Training - Time: TBA – Place: TBA - Call Susan at 480-278-3806 for more info, or email at kansasstarr88@yahoo.com to be put on the list for regular time and location updates. Lost people welcome!

Requested Training Sessions

If you would like to volunteer to run a training session, or if you have a training session request, contact any Board member, or Morris Brown

Squad Web Site: www.trsar.org

Reports/Rosters are available on our
Members Only Page

September 2011

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 Webmaster to arrange for it, no cost to you or us.