I first became aware of this search and rescue team when I corresponded with their founder and Managing Director on LinkedIn and decided to learn more about them.
SAR Dogs Nepal (formerly known as the Himalaya Rescue Dog Squad), established in October 1989, by Dutchman Ingo Schnabel, is the only organization of its kind in the country, providing search and rescue teams and medical aid in the event of natural disasters and when trekkers are reported missing or injured. The squad is able to provide air rescue and tracker dogs to almost any area of Nepal. Members are experienced in a wide range of disciplines, including rock rescue, firefighting, logistics, and wilderness medicine.
The team has a newly formed Junior Rescue Squad, thanks in large part to American dog trainer Lynn Martin from Oregon's Dog Obedience Academy, who traveled to Nepal with her sister, Kathleen Reick, to help SAR Dogs Nepal train six newly recruited Nepalese youngsters. This follows a hiatus during The People's War in Nepal from 1996 until 2006, when SAR Dogs Nepal could not continue its training of new disaster relief workers. At present, only 18 staff members and 9 Nepalese volunteers remain, while the team's goal is to have a minimum of 100 disaster relief workers on standby in their mobile Disaster Relief & Medical Aid Unit.
The team's main headquarters, including a dog breeding and training center, is in Shyauli Bazaar, Lamjung District, in the center of Nepal. They often work at an altitude of 5600 meters (18,373 feet) or more, in diverse and often harsh conditions--from jungle gorges to flooded plains, avalanche zones, and even large-scale traffic accidents.
Flash flooding is common in Nepal, when the monsoons bring heavy rain and heat, melting snow and ice to the rivers. There's also a lot of seismic activity, making landslides, earth tremors, and even full-scale earthquakes constant threats.
Due to a lack of national infrastructure and government support in the field, SAR Dogs Nepal has provided the only medical disaster relief to poor villages in remote areas.
You can learn more about the SAR Dogs Nepal and about the country on the team's website at SARDogsNepal.asia
Youth In SAR
I used to think you had to be 18 in order to participate in search and rescue. But now I know that assumption was wrong. In fact, there are whole teams made up of youth volunteers.
Take Long Beach Search & Rescue, for example. From their website:
Long Beach Search & Rescue "provides young adults with an opportunity to serve the public during emergency situations while encouraging them to explore career possibilities in the law enforcement, fire protection and emergency medical services fields. Long Beach Search & Rescue is an award-winning Learning for Life Explorer Post co-sponsored by the Long Beach Police Motor Patrol and Long Beach Firefighter's Associations." All applicants must be between the ages of 15 and 18 and maintain at least a C grade point average in school, among other requirements.
There's also Explorer Post 2002, a youth Search and Rescue team sponsored by the Sonoma County, California, Sheriff's Department. After finding this team, I then did a search for Explorer Search And Rescue (ESAR) and found youth SAR teams all over the country, including but not limited to Arkansas ESAR, Washington ESAR, and King County ESAR, the first youth-based search and rescue team in the nation, established in 1954.
Some states, such as New York, don't accept SAR applicants who are under 18 years of age. However, organizations such as Boy Scouts of America and Civil Air Patrol do have units around the country that have Search and Rescue training tracks that minors can get involved with. Explorer Search and Rescue (ESAR) teams are made up of teens--boys and girls--in the Learning for Life program, a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America, who are trained and deployed for search and rescue missions.
Here are news stories about two young and accomplished SAR volunteers:
Arizona Teen and her Search Dog Pass National Certification: After completing her ground searcher certification, 16-year-old Taylor Lane of Sonoran Search & Rescue submitted an application to the Paws of Life Foundation's program to pair canine handlers with dogs. Lane and her search and rescue dog recently passed NASAR's Canine Sartech I evaluation.
To the Rescue! A young search-and-rescue-volunteer comes to the aid of lost or injured hikers in northern California: Now 18, Tamsen Bell started with Marin Search & Rescue when she was 14 years old, the youngest age at which one can join. When Bell was 16 years old, she took a lead role in a SAR mission involving a 60-year-old hiker who fell 50 feet off a cliff and landed on a mountain ledge, breaking part of her neck and suffering other injuries. Bell then slid down a steep part of the mountain to get to where the injured woman lay. She then examined the victim to find out what kinds of injuries she had suffered and decided the best way to transport her to safety.
Take Long Beach Search & Rescue, for example. From their website:
Long Beach Search & Rescue "provides young adults with an opportunity to serve the public during emergency situations while encouraging them to explore career possibilities in the law enforcement, fire protection and emergency medical services fields. Long Beach Search & Rescue is an award-winning Learning for Life Explorer Post co-sponsored by the Long Beach Police Motor Patrol and Long Beach Firefighter's Associations." All applicants must be between the ages of 15 and 18 and maintain at least a C grade point average in school, among other requirements.
There's also Explorer Post 2002, a youth Search and Rescue team sponsored by the Sonoma County, California, Sheriff's Department. After finding this team, I then did a search for Explorer Search And Rescue (ESAR) and found youth SAR teams all over the country, including but not limited to Arkansas ESAR, Washington ESAR, and King County ESAR, the first youth-based search and rescue team in the nation, established in 1954.
Some states, such as New York, don't accept SAR applicants who are under 18 years of age. However, organizations such as Boy Scouts of America and Civil Air Patrol do have units around the country that have Search and Rescue training tracks that minors can get involved with. Explorer Search and Rescue (ESAR) teams are made up of teens--boys and girls--in the Learning for Life program, a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America, who are trained and deployed for search and rescue missions.
Here are news stories about two young and accomplished SAR volunteers:
Arizona Teen and her Search Dog Pass National Certification: After completing her ground searcher certification, 16-year-old Taylor Lane of Sonoran Search & Rescue submitted an application to the Paws of Life Foundation's program to pair canine handlers with dogs. Lane and her search and rescue dog recently passed NASAR's Canine Sartech I evaluation.
To the Rescue! A young search-and-rescue-volunteer comes to the aid of lost or injured hikers in northern California: Now 18, Tamsen Bell started with Marin Search & Rescue when she was 14 years old, the youngest age at which one can join. When Bell was 16 years old, she took a lead role in a SAR mission involving a 60-year-old hiker who fell 50 feet off a cliff and landed on a mountain ledge, breaking part of her neck and suffering other injuries. Bell then slid down a steep part of the mountain to get to where the injured woman lay. She then examined the victim to find out what kinds of injuries she had suffered and decided the best way to transport her to safety.
Featured Team: K9 Search and Rescue Team Inc.
And the team shows up to missions completely self-sufficient for a minimum of five days, traveling in a modified school bus that has room for nine passengers and kennels for five or more dogs, and can serve as a communications center during searches. The team also has a 4-wheel drive pick-up and a base camp trailer that holds most of their rescue and medical gear, which is brought along when needed.
Other than fuel reimbursement, there is no compensation requested by the team when they respond to everything from wilderness, urban and evidence searches to missions involving water, snow, homicide, aircraft, and disaster-type searches. The team depends on the support of the community, grants and fundraisers to maintain their operations.
You can read more about the team's human members and their search dogs on their website at www.k9team.org, where you'll also find a mission history dating back more than six years and information on becoming a member. And you don't have to have a dog to do so; besides being a handler, the team needs navigators, base support, and even non-field personnel--those with valuable skills who do not deploy in the event of a mission.
One thing that really impressed me about the team members I met was how open and friendly they were, coming over to introduce themselves to me soon after I arrived at the conference. I also sensed a strong camaraderie among them, which tells me they not only enjoy each other's company but train and work well together also. I know they've come to our county in Arizona at least once before to assist with a mission (before my time), and I'd welcome working with them in the future.
Here are some news releases about the team:
K9 TEAM ASSISTS IN SEARCH FOR MISSING NEW MEXICO STATE POLICE HELICOPTER
LOCAL K9 SEARCH AND RESCUE ASSISTS IN FINDING MISSING SNOWBOARDER
BUSY SUMMER FOR K9 SEARCH AND RESCUE
******
If you plan to attend the July 2010 SARCon in Gunnison, Colorado, you'll likely meet some of this team's members there. Information about SARCon will be posted on the COSAR website next year.
What's New On SARStories.com
First, thanks to Steve Hilts, a member of the Urban Search & Rescue California Task Force 3, for submitting his journal from his 2005 trip to New Orleans, where he and his K-9, Daisy, assisted with Search & Rescue efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Steve and Daisy's story is now posted on our website, since Steve doesn't have one of his own.
We also have another new featured story link to Crisis on Half Dome, brought to our attention by the Friends of YOSAR (Yosemite Search & Rescue), about a near-fatal fall and the risky rescue that followed. (Photo above-left courtesy of Friends of YOSAR)
And in our own search for new SAR stories, we came across Expecting Surprises: The Hasty Team Strikes Again by California's Santa Clara County Hasty Team, whose technical training outing in Tenaya Canyon turns into a real rescue when another hiker becomes stuck, immobile and scared on a wet slab.
Under the SAR Articles category, we've added a new find, a short article called Humans Walk in Circles But We Think We're Going Straight, about a study done by researches at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany.
And there's also a new non-team SAR site page, where we're compiling a list of links, including a new website called SAR Responder, developed by Kim Ringeisen. Kim is a member of Central North Carolina Search & Rescue, and SARResponder.com is his new social network, connecting Search & Rescue volunteers and professionals. You can also find out about upcoming events, read recent SAR news, and post your own SAR articles.
As always, if you come across any good firsthand SAR stories, articles, team websites that are not currently in our directories, or non-team SAR sites we should add to our list, please email us at contact@sarstories.com and let us know.
SAR City in Barstow, California
Now that I've returned from the Arizona state Search & Rescue conference, I'm signing up for another, this one in California. The three-day event is called SARCity, now celebrating it's 37th year this October 9–11.
SARCity is put on by the Barstow Desert Rescue Squad, a volunteer team involved in all types of SAR including mine rescue, in conjunction with the San Bernardino County Sheriff, OES, Barstow College and more than 100 volunteer instructors. More than 50 classes are being offered, some lasting an hour and others the entire weekend. There will be lots of new classes this year, while still offering the basics for those just getting into search and rescue.
Included in the schedule are several "track" classes, which last all or most of the weekend and are limited to a certain number of students. Topics include Man Tracking, HAZ MAT, ICS 400, and HAM radio.
The 2009 "Mix & Match" classes include Winter Survival, Cave SAR, Fostering Good Judgment in your SAR Team, Scene Size up in the Wilderness Setting, Considerations for Rope Rescue and more.
Fees for the conference are $85 if postmarked by September 24th, then $95 after that. If 5 or more members of a team will be attending, the discounted rate is $70. Registration includes either a selected track class or any of the mix and match, general session classes, as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. There is camping, showers, and RV/camper sites available.
You can find a registration form at http://sarcityusa.org/forms/sarcity.pdf. For additional information, email daryl@sarcityusa.org.
SARCity is put on by the Barstow Desert Rescue Squad, a volunteer team involved in all types of SAR including mine rescue, in conjunction with the San Bernardino County Sheriff, OES, Barstow College and more than 100 volunteer instructors. More than 50 classes are being offered, some lasting an hour and others the entire weekend. There will be lots of new classes this year, while still offering the basics for those just getting into search and rescue.
Included in the schedule are several "track" classes, which last all or most of the weekend and are limited to a certain number of students. Topics include Man Tracking, HAZ MAT, ICS 400, and HAM radio.
The 2009 "Mix & Match" classes include Winter Survival, Cave SAR, Fostering Good Judgment in your SAR Team, Scene Size up in the Wilderness Setting, Considerations for Rope Rescue and more.
Fees for the conference are $85 if postmarked by September 24th, then $95 after that. If 5 or more members of a team will be attending, the discounted rate is $70. Registration includes either a selected track class or any of the mix and match, general session classes, as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. There is camping, showers, and RV/camper sites available.
You can find a registration form at http://sarcityusa.org/forms/sarcity.pdf. For additional information, email daryl@sarcityusa.org.
The Search For David Gimelfarb
David Alexander Gimelfarb, a 28-year-old doctoral student in psychology in Chicago, was last seen on Tuesday, August 11th at 10 a.m. in the Rincon de Vieja National Park outside of Liberia in Costa Rica. On Tuesday night after closing hours, his car was found in the parking lot, with no evidence that he has returned since. David's parents have been in Costa Rica searching for their son with the local Red Cross since Wednesday, August 12th. On August 18th, the U.S. government and the U.S. Costa Rican Embassy joined in the search, and on August 19th, ResQglobal, an "independent, neutral organization providing an immediate international rescue service for victims of disaster worldwide," arrived to assist.
Since then, a Facebook group has been created in order to pool information on David's disappearance and the ongoing search, including links to news stories (ie. "Chicago Grad Student Missing in Costa Rica" from August 16, 2009) and a list of all visitors who signed in at the Park register on August 11th. This social networking group also aims to dispel some of the misinformation that's been circulating in the media.
As of the latest update on September 9th, a team was able to get to a lagoon at the bottom of a crater, where they found some red foam rather than what was thought to be a body floating face-down when it was first spotted by police.
Anyone with information pertaining to this search should send an email to krowens@my.adler.edu.
NASAR SAR Tech I, II and III
Now that I've earned my Rock Rescue Tech patch, I'm thinking about what other "levels" of search and rescue I might try to accomplish. I've heard people mention SAR Tech I, II and III, so I decided to get more details. And here's what I've found out:
These are tests administered by the National Association for Search & Rescue, with SAR Tech I being the highest level of the three. And it is not necessary to take the SAR Tech III test (written only) to go for SAR Tech II (written and practical tests).
A SAR Tech II exam can be scheduled by anyone who wants to sponsor or host one. I see on the schedule for the upcoming Arizona SAR Conference in Heber (9/18–20) that the SAR Tech II test may be taken for a fee of $55.
The SAR Tech II written test consists of 160 multiple choice questions, with a passing grade being no less than 70%. Topics covered in the exam include:
The practical test for SAR Tech II is made up of six stations in the categories of land navigation, tracking, the 24-Hour Pack, rope skills, route search and area search. Applicants must demonstrate these skills to an approved evaluator.
An explanation of each of these stations and all the requirements for SAR Tech II and III can be found at Nasar.org.
SAR Tech I is the advanced "Crew Leader/Evaluator" level, which is recommended only for those who may function as crew leaders during missions. .
I think SAR Tech II certification is something I want to do, which means I'll need the textbook, Fundamentals of Search and Rescue.
Apparently, earlier editions of the book will not be sufficient to prepare for the exam.
You can see a list of all NASAR Course offerings and examinations on their website.
These are tests administered by the National Association for Search & Rescue, with SAR Tech I being the highest level of the three. And it is not necessary to take the SAR Tech III test (written only) to go for SAR Tech II (written and practical tests).
A SAR Tech II exam can be scheduled by anyone who wants to sponsor or host one. I see on the schedule for the upcoming Arizona SAR Conference in Heber (9/18–20) that the SAR Tech II test may be taken for a fee of $55.
The SAR Tech II written test consists of 160 multiple choice questions, with a passing grade being no less than 70%. Topics covered in the exam include:
- NIMS Incident Command System
- Basic Survival
- SAR Clothing
- Improvising
- Environmental Hazards and First Aid
- SAR Ready Pack
- Personal Equipment
- Travel Skills
- Land Navigation & Orienteering
- SAR Resources
- Search Philosophy
- Search Tactics
- Handling Evidence
- Clue Consciousness
- Search Operations
- Tracking
- Ropes & Rescue Equipment
- Legal Aspects for the Searcher
The practical test for SAR Tech II is made up of six stations in the categories of land navigation, tracking, the 24-Hour Pack, rope skills, route search and area search. Applicants must demonstrate these skills to an approved evaluator.
An explanation of each of these stations and all the requirements for SAR Tech II and III can be found at Nasar.org.
SAR Tech I is the advanced "Crew Leader/Evaluator" level, which is recommended only for those who may function as crew leaders during missions. .
I think SAR Tech II certification is something I want to do, which means I'll need the textbook, Fundamentals of Search and Rescue.
Apparently, earlier editions of the book will not be sufficient to prepare for the exam.You can see a list of all NASAR Course offerings and examinations on their website.
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