An interesting story

http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/4418047.Training_turns_to_reality_for_rescue_groups/
With an old comrade featured. Bill was one of the best climbers in the service during my time. the chopper is a Sea King, an old but awesome rescue bird. I trained a little for Cave Rescue.

In the rescue world, CRO can mean two things: The Cave Rescue Organization in England's north country, and Combat Rescue Officer, a USAF MOS for PJ-qualified candidates.

One danger in scheduling a big joint training is that fate increases the odds of a call-out for you every time.

Kadjoko call out, 4/19/2009

To: Mick Womersley; Faculty; Students; Staff
Cc:
Subject: SAR callout report, Sunday 4/19
Attachments:
View As Web Page

Dear CommUnity:

The Unity College SAR team returned safely to campus this afternoon after assisting the Maine Warden's Service to look for a man missing in the woods north of Greenville since Monday.

The elderly gentleman they were looking for was, unhappily, found dead after several hours and miles of searching. It will however, be some small comfort to his family that he has been found.

We fielded 11 personnel. This is a very good response for a weekend call out. All students performed well under the leadership of their own officers (without any faculty or staff supervision), on an arduous operation, at short notice, and a long way from campus.

I hope you agree with me that they are a credit to the college.

Sincerely,

Mick

Mick Womersley, PhD
Associate Professor
Unity College
www.unity.edu/facultypages/womersley/windweb.htm
www.ucsustainability.blogspot.com
www.unity.edu/sustainability

The Maine guide technique

Believe it or not, the traditional Maine guide paddle technique for a one-man canoe is to paddle upright, with a very long paddle. This particular guy, a race day regular, shoots all the Kenduskeag rapids every year in this fine style, come hell or high water.

Kenduskeag race day!

Yesterday a small but elite group of two Unity SAR team personnel went to Bangor to help provide rescue cover for the annual Kenduskeag River Race.

The Kenduskeag is about as much fun as Mainers like to have. Being northerners and proud of it, not only do thousands of folk turn out to watch people get dumped in the icy cold waters just for fun, but almost a thousand actually go down the river as part of the race and GET dumped.

You can see pretty much every type of Mainer there is to see on the banks or in the river. The race is run by folk barely in their teens (accompanied by a paddler parent), to folk well into retirement.

One gray-haired granny who shot the rapids very neatly in her aging fiberglass kayak got the biggest round of applause. But the Maine guide who paddles standing up always gets a cheer, as does Gumby who this year was sporting a T-Shirt declaring his support for economic stimulus (as long as some of it came to him). There were also lots of pirates, of the traditional, not east African kind.

About thirty boats dumped at our little hole, and Melanie and I fished away with our throw ropes, while the Bangor FD swam around in their wet suits and fielded other dumpers and swimmers.

Of course, the loudest cheers are ALWAYS for those who dump.

Mount Harris in the snow

I took a ride on some muddy dirt roads up to our Mount Harris training area. Mud season is definitely upon us. Click on the picture to enlarge it and get the full effect.

This is why we bought that 4 wheel drive king cab rescue truck. The college vans are roomy and reliable, but when we have to drive dirt roads to get to a call-out in mud season, they are a liability.

And an accident that put a van out of commission would create difficulties for the college's field trip scheduling.

As it turns out, we may be getting a second SAR vehicle soon, a Ford Bronco six-pack, donated by a college supporter.

The snow was hard, and so Haggis (a failed search dog trainee) and I could walk more or less anywhere we wanted without snowshoes. Not that Haggis has any. When the snow is deep he just plows through. I plan to go back today to try to get to the high lookout.

I also dropped in on the landowner to renew our access permission, which was readily granted. We won't mention your name on this public web page, but we are very pleased and grateful to have access to such a great training area.

Check out our most recent letter from Heavy, our Scottish Mountain Rescue buddy (a member of the Scottish Mountain Rescue Committee and Torridan MRT). Torridon had a very exciting, slightly technical call-out, with a great result. Heavy sent pictures and a summary (below).

It's always great when everything works well and you save a life. This guy would certainly have died without the technical and medical skills, and the hill fitness, of the several teams involved.

So the next time one of you is slogging up Mount Harris in the mud and rain, lost and weary and scratched by trees, and cursing Mick, remember, the real thing is much harder!

Then curse away!

Postcard from Heavy

A 62 year old went off to climb his 100 th Munro Sgurr Na Sgine on the South Clunnie, he never returned to his car.

Kintail MR searched all night with team and dogs, called in my team Torridon and RAF Kinloss, I got there at 1000 we found him alive but in a bad way at about 1245. He had had a heart attack and crawled off the hill to a burn where he collapsed. He was very cold and nearly a goner but we had him off within an hour and will survive hardy old soul!

Great result and I was in at the thick of it. Young RAF guys found him and were fanatastic with their care and kept him alive. The Kintail boys ran down to the road for Oxygen and back up helped by some of the RAF Kinloss, that helped keep him alive, great team work and wonderful too see. In all a great callout with a fantastic result, the helicopter evacuation was scary, I have some good photos.

Great to have good news in this awful crazy time in the world!

Twitter, iPhone play role in mountain rescue incident

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/04/twitter-death-entrepreneur-rob-william