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msar-riders - [MSAR] Hypothermia and horse sense/scents

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  • From: "Patty Montoya" <riverrider@bak.rr.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [MSAR] Hypothermia and horse sense/scents
  • Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 23:00:04 -0800

A similar situation happened to our unit last year:
The forecast was for rain, so we went prepared for rain...however, it snowed. The subject had traveled several miles up a heavily wooded, difficult trail and the searchers on foot were having a difficult time. The horses were also slipping and having a tough time in some sections, but they were able to cover a large area quickly. Our instructions were to just go up this difficult trail as quickly as we could. The subject had been out overnight and was not dressed for cold weather.
As the team was passing some undergrowth the horses alerted that something unusual was there. The riders investigated and found the subject huddled under the brush. He was elderly and dressed for warm weather hiking with an internal temperature of 74 degrees. Because of the poor weather conditions and remote location, it took almost and hour to get someone to take him out. (Fortunately, they were in radio contact and immediately radioed for help. But a helicopter couldn't get in there and the shortest route was across a river, which required bringing up a boat and team.) By the time a team came in and took him out, the mounted riders were cold, not prepared for spending the night, and it was too late to ride back down the trail they came in on. They had to cross the river with the horses. All around it was a difficult search and rescue. We now require all members to be prepared for ANY kind of weather and we don't trust the weather forecast.
Sadly, the subject later succumbed to his injuries but his family was somewhat relieved that he was found and had a fighting chance because the alternative was that we might never have found him without the horses because he was hidden so far under the heavy underbrush.
This was another example of how helpful the horses can be when our own senses are not strong enough.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Sherry C. Hicks" <shicks@nwinc.net>
To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 10:24 AM
Subject: Re: [MSAR] So you made a find. Now what?!


It is not really a scenario, but a real rescue that Art Wolff told us about
during our SAR TECH II class. I mentioned it because someone mentioned that
they had taken all their overnight gear from their pack and I wondered how
they would have dealt with this type situation.

The rescuers hunkered down and made it through the night, but all were
hypothermic then reinforcements arrived the next morning. The two main
problems were their lack of preparedness and the fact that they were in an
area of the national park where radios and cell phones don't work because
the park does not allow towers.

-----Original Message-----
From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Una Smith
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 7:14 PM
To: Mounted search and rescue
Subject: Re: [MSAR] So you made a find. Now what?!

The scenario includes "severe hypothermia" and "got out", as in
walked out...? The scenario's internal consistency is low. Lets
wait for clarification.

Una Smith
New Mexico
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