As most of the Department's S&R Teams are probably
aware of by now, Aviation has a new Helitac Course that is being offered - and
highly recommended - to all our teams.
The IESARC has been putting the word out that all the Department's
S&R teams take this course, involving as many of their team members as
possible.
The San Bernardino Mountain
S&R Team was called upon to deploy to a search for a critical missing woman
on Sunday, 08-10-08. The page came very
early that morning, about 0200 hours.
My first thought was "I sure hope this is not an early morning training
reminder" since the Team was scheduled to take the Department's new Helitac
Course put on by Aviation later that morning.
After refocusing on my pager, I realized this was, indeed, an actual
search call-out. I called the Team
Commander to let him know I was on my way.
This weekend the Barstow Desert Rescue Squad and the Cave Rescue Team trained together near Calico. A local reporter accompanied the team for part of the day and reported on the activities. Read the story.
Ironically the teams were called to assist in a mine rescue in Northern California later that day. Los Angeles County ended up taking the call, however.
Wednesday July 30, 2008 about 1530 hours the call comes for
an over the side operation. At the time it was not clear whether this was a
recovery or a rescue of an injury. Upon arrival at Red Rock Wall on Highway18
just west of Rimforest the following agencies were on scene. Caltrans, CHP,
Crest Forest Fire, Rim of the World. net, Forest Service, and SB County
Sheriff- (Aviation, Law Enforcement, and SAR {possibly also COP}). The hour had
become late and several members of the RimSAR technical rescue team were on
vacation. San Gorgonio SAR was called as assistance to RimSAR should the need
arise and Crest Forest Fire had already set up a mainline and belay station.
The Western Region of the National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC) is hosting the Levels I and II cave rescue seminar Sept 27 - Oct 4. This is one of the best deals out there in county-approved technical rope rescue training. While much of the traning takes place in an underground environment, virtually all of the techniques are applicable to just about any SAR mission you will encounter. Follow the link below for details.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named
below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer
product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless
otherwise instructed.
I just wanted to update you all on the Estrada Missing
Person Investigation. You may recall the recent search out at Piute
Springs of the missing hiker in the Colorado River Station's area.
Several of our station's SAR teams as well as outside agencies
assisted. Well, Estrada's disappearance remains a mystery.
Since calling the active part of the SAR, we located witnesses that saw her and
the RP together before she disappeared. We have video tape of her alive on
the day she went missing - checking out of the Avi just as the RP
claimed. There is no new information from the Park Service and we have
sent a few searchers back up there as recent as last week looking for
animal/bird activity, etc. with nothing new to report. We are still
waiting for many of the documents we subpoenaed. Nonetheless, our
investigation team to include Sgt. Medley, Cpl. Murch, Dep. Vessels and the
Polygraph Detail did a great job and continues to conduct a thorough and detailed
missing person investigation.
Once again another hot summer season is here. It is
important that the team training officers or team medics review the common heat
related illnesses with their teams so other team members are able to recognize
when something is wrong in either self or other team members. We seem to do
this more in the alpine environment but with our hot Southern California
summers it is important to understand heat related problems as well. I recently
had an experience that I'd like to share that went unnoticed by both others and
myself.
Click on "Shows" in the upper-right corner to view more pics and video. Email
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for instructions on how to put your own video or pictures in this location.
As of today, 6/13/08, Maria Estrada has not been found. Ms. Estrada was reported missing near Needles, CA last Sunday. The search area is north of I-40 and west of Hwy 95.
I have attached two letters of thanks from donors to the Christy fund.
So many times, even when the search ends well, the volunteers never hear the final outcome or get the words of thanks passed down to them. In the case of Dean Christy, almost all of the 43 donors who contributed to the Christy Fund included a little note of thanks to our volunteers. I read two aloud at the last SAR Council meeting as an example of the sentiments. All of the fine efforts of our people and those who came for mutual aid certainly did not go un-noticed by many people, some as far away as New York.
A special, perpetual memorial fund in Dean’s name has been set up under SAR Council as a means of accepting monetary donations for search and rescue related activities. These funds will utilized for equipment and training and will be made available through SAR Council to all of our teams.
Keep up the good work…you make us proud and keep San Bernardino the leader in Search and Rescue!
The San Bernardino County Fair in Victorville is the main
fundraiser for the Victor Valley Unit 212 of San Bernardino County. The team is responsible for all parking
lots, and we man all of the gates. Sunday afternoon, May 11, at approximately
1630 a "Missing Child" call came on our radios. The missing child was described
as a six-year-old boy wearing a white shirt with his name on it. All vehicle exits were "locked down."
Every vehicle that wished to exit the Fairgrounds was
stopped and searched before it was allowed to leave. Once people were informed of the reason no one was upset by this.
Everyone consented to having their trunk and vehicle looked into and many asked
if there was anything they could do to help. Within 30 minutes the missing
child was located, by team members, under a car in the parking lot, near the
Administration Building and the situation was resolved.
On January 4th, Dean Christy a Green Valley Lake
resident had intentions of taking a short walk. This hike was a normal activity for this 62 year old retired
teacher. He was familiar with the roads
around his San Bernardino Mountain community.
The forest where he exercised in regularly had changed dramatically because
of the recent wildfires. After a few
hours of walking, a storm that had been forecast for days arrived with a
vengeance. This storm started out with dense
fog and wind driven rain and ended two days later with three feet of snow.
Please freeze a spot
on your calendar for a Saturday in February, 2009. Yes, it is a year away! The
exact day will be determined this fall. We will be holding a one day workshop
on Negotiating Ice. The location tentatively will be the Deep Creek
narrows in Running Springs. It typically forms and holds ice. It also has been
the site of real SAR missions, as witnessed recently (see Tracker write up ).
All SAR personnel who are BMC qualified or participating in the BMC 2008-9
course will be welcome to attend. This will be an opportunity to try dull vs.
sharp, aluminum vs. steel, ice climbing vs. general mountaineering crampons,
ice tools and ice axe. Different techniques such as French technique and front
pointing will be demonstrated and practiced. This will all be done while on
belay. Please email me your intent to participate, whether as a student or
instructor at: canyonear AT gmail DOT com.
The search for Dean Christy ended officially today when 3 members of Rim SAR, Fred Palmer, Jim Morrell and Duane Steiner, found Mr. Christy under a rock near the cell coordinates.
The call from Sgt. O'Brian came about 1930 hours with a
request from Running Springs Fire for assistance with a technical rescue of 2
or possibly more victims in the Narrows area of Deep Creek. The victims had
apparently slipped on the ice covered slopes above the creek and fallen about
400 feet to the bottom.
On Monday, February 25, at 6:18 p.m., when most members of
San Gorgonio SAR team were probably preparing or eating dinner, we received the
following page:
Staff Forester
CDF - Forest Health Program
2524 Mulberry Street
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 320-6125
Beware of the flowers
Riverside - As many of our local foothill areas continue the natural healing process from the fire scars of the last few years, Mother Nature is providing a few surprises in the process. One worth mentioning is in the colorful Poodle-dog bush, Turricula parryi. This beautiful purple flowered plant has populated many of the burned areas from the 2003 fires and will likewise do so within the areas burned in the fires of 2007. Touching this beautiful flowering plant can lead to severe dermatitis in many people, typical of that associated with poison oak. Symptoms include blistering of the skin, itchy irritated skin and swelling. Symptoms may not present themselves for 12-36 hours after exposure and no pain is experienced at the time of contact. All contact with the plant including touching, smelling flowers, and breathing particulate matter should be avoided as you would avoid poison oak.
