What's New On SARStories.com

I thought I'd highlight some of the new content that's been added to SARStories.com in the past couple of months.

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.

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:

• 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.

Some Minnesota & Ontario SAR and SAR Reading

Here I am, back from my trip to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, where my husband and I paddled, camped and hiked for the past couple of weeks. While we were there, I had lots of time to read while hiding from mosquitoes in our tent, so I picked up some regional books, including one related to search and rescue.

It's crossed my mind a number of times—how easy it would be to get lost in the thick North Woods, often without significant landmarks to aid in navigation, especially if one ventures off the beaten path (not that there are many beaten paths in the Boundary Waters other than popular portages) without maps and a compass and solid orienteering skills. In fact, a friend of mine and I got quite confused about our location and our route ahead when we hiked Minnesota's Kekekabic Trail in 2003 and, at one point, backtracked close to 10 miles just to get to a point we were sure of.

Part of what made it so confusing, and still does today, is the mess created by a powerful microburst, with straight-line winds up to 100 miles per hour, that swept though the area on July 4, 1999. The storm left trees piled up like huge matchsticks, sometimes 20 feet high over an area of 386,000 acres in the wilderness alone, affecting 800 campsites, 80 miles of portages, and over 130 miles of hiking trails. (Here's an article with photos about some of subsequent clean-up efforts: Sacramento Hotshots Help With Search & Rescue in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness) Sixty people were injured during the mid-day storm, with 20 being evacuated by float plane. A decade later, the effects of that storm are still seen and experienced firsthand if you hike or portage canoes in the area.

Add to that the fact that hiking trails in the wilderness are not marked and, so it seems, rarely maintained. Just to show you how thick it is up there, check out this photo of my husband. He's actually ON the Border Route Trail in the Boundary Waters. At times, it's more like swimming through brush than hiking. We had to pause and hunt for the trail on several occasions and do some crawling under and climbing over a number of downed trees. So I could relate to Lost in the Wild: Danger and Survival in the North Woodsand how one wrong move or a short lapse in attention can get you into very deep trouble up there.

This book tells the stories of two young men, one an experienced guide and the other a novice backpacker, unfamiliar with the area, who got lost in the North Woods at different times, and the decisions and events that led to their life-threatening predicaments as well as their rescues. One of the SAR operations takes place on the U.S. side, the other is across the water-based border in Canada. Despite the fact that the reader knows both men ultimately survive, that didn't detract from the suspense. And the book is well-written and moves along at a good pace. 

I was particularly interested in how the SAR units operated and how they handled the searches. The teams involved were Minnesota's volunteer Lake County Rescue Squad and, in the search on the Canadian side in the Quetico Provincial Park, the Ontario Provincial Police Emergency Response Team.

From the book (p.191) re: Lake County Rescue Squad:

"Since its inception over three decades ago, Lake County's volunteer search and rescue has grown progressively more sophisticated. In the late 1950s and 1960s, it was little more than a group of concerned citizens. Today, the fifty-plus volunteers are divided into three squads: Two Harbors, Silver Bay and Finland. Each squad has trained individuals who can stand in as incident commanders, the leaders responsible for guiding and directing searches. And now the volunteer group has plenty of the right equipment: ATVs; personal watercraft, and boats; gear for water searches, woods searches, climbing rescue; radio equipment; even their own command vehicles. The Finland squad's vehicle is a used ambulance and trailer, gutted and refurbished with communications gear, a table and sleeping berth."

Re: O.P.P. Emergency Rescue Team (p. 210):

"The helicopter is almost in from Sudbury, but they realize there is no good place for it to land. The area around no name lake is so thick with brush--trees running straight up to the edge of the water with no flat granite outcrops--they will need to create some kind of makeshift helipad.

"Sergeant Norm Mitchell and Moore know the copter doesn't need much. But it should be plenty open, so the rotors have no chance of hooking on a tree branch. The most open place close to camp is the cobblestone end of the lake, but the boulders are too large and tumbled, in the same state the glaciers left them. Its surface it too uneven.

"A kind of log-dock landing pad could work."

And that's what they built in time for the helicopter to touch down a half hour later and pick up the spotter from the wilderness base camp they'd set up.

Author Cary J. Griffith also wrote Opening Goliath: Danger and Discovery in Caving. As in "Lost in the Wild," Griffith weaves together two separate incidents, "showing the dangers experienced by both groups--one highly prepared and experienced and the other tragically ill equipped." (Amazon.com)

An End To a SAR Story

Just a brief post to let you know that the body of missing hiker, 20-year-old Bryce Gillies, was located this morning in the Bonita Creek drainage on the north side of Grand Canyon. He was found at the top of a 100-foot pour-off after personal items, including a backpack, had been discovered nearby.

Here's the breaking news article from the Arizona Daily Sun: Body of Missing Backpacker Found.

Update: Search Continues For Missing Grand Canyon Hiker

This is Friday, July 24th at 4pm. As of this time, the search continues for what is now believed to be a single hiker rather than a group of three or four. The latest Grand Canyon National Park Press release was posted yesterday:

"Grand Canyon National Park search and rescue personnel are intensifying their search efforts as they re-asses who they are looking for.

"On the evening of Tuesday, July 21, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a report that at least one, and possibly as many as three young men were overdue from a backpacking trip to the Deer Creek/Thunder River area of Grand Canyon National Park. On Wednesday, Park Rangers found the car of Bryce Gillies, a student at Northern Arizona University (NAU), parked at the Bill Hall Trailhead which is located about half way between Tuweep and the developed area on the North Rim of the park."

Read more....

The reason I know that the search is still ongoing is that I'm listening to radio traffic at the Canyon on RadioReference.com. Another helicopter just took off for the Thunder River area with an hour's worth of fuel. Ground teams continue to search as well.

This is who they're looking for:

Subject: BRYCE GILLIES

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Age: 20
Height: 5’ 3”
Weight: 130
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue

Anyone who believes they have seen Mr. Gillies since Saturday, July 18, is encouraged to contact the National Park Service at 928-638-7805.

Saturday, July 25, 6:50am. Here's the latest information from the Arizona Daily Sun. As the report confirms, I could tell by listening to the radio scanner yesterday that searchers had located some items.