Mounted search and rescue

[pennbo@bbv.net]

Good question Jorene and really made me think about what we do.
We are often used in community affairs for highly visual patrolling. We
patrol Fourth of July (fireworks are illegal here), small town
celebrations (keeping things under control by being visible), parking
control etc. Our forest has been shut down several times in the last few
years due to drought conditions but the Posse has been allowed access-
to patrol and to hand out literature to those we fnd.

But what are our uses in search or disaster situations?
Well, we are a part of our county's evacuation team. We just evacuated
quite a few horses from an area where our recent fire was headed. Having
many rigs- inventoried, and having basic training in fire/smoke
situations, as well as having an ex-fire chief on our crew, gives us
good useability. Because of the size of our rigs we can be used to block
roads and control traffic patterns in same type situations. (downside is
size of rigs restricts areas we can travel in and out of easily)

Along the same line we are going to be used to help inventory
outlying/isolated areas for livestock AND for shut-ins or elderly who
may require help in an emergency/evacuation situation. We have many
miles of dirt roads here as well as quite a few Forestry cabins that
hide back in the woods.

Familiarity with terrain is a bonus.  We are intimately acquainted with
our wilderness terrain as we ride it frequently. We are just beginning
to be utilized in the beginning of searches to offer info on specific
areas and suggest search patterns in relation to land forms. It looks
different on a map but we've been there!

Hasty teams- we can head into an area from "off sides" in order to help
define search boundaries. While I think we are well suited to Hasty
teams from ground zero we are still trying to convince the powers that
be that we won't do anymore damage to evidence or tracks than foot teams
or ATC teams! We have a really fast response time considering what we
have to gather to go!

Packing- we can, and have, packed stuff in for the ground pounder teams.
If the search if moving further and further away from accessible areas
we can pack in the necessary supplies to move a ground pounder overnight
camp into the new search area. Saves wear and tear on them as well as
adding miles to the daily searchable radius. We have also packed out a
victim with a foot/ankle injury. We stabilized the area and then hoisted
them onto one of the horses which was led out of the area. Not ideal as
the injury wasn't raised but considering the terrain it was the best
option.

Food/water relief- We can quickly get a sizeable amount of refreshments
to outlying teams so that they do not have to either A. come back into
CP for nutrition or B. have to depend on dry stuff in packs. I think
this would allow a longer period of useablity for these teams.

I think you already mentioned using horses to pull- whether it be
litters up the side of a cliff or trees from across the road. Some of
our horses are trained to pull- what I have been playing with is some
type of portable harness for pulling as most saddles won't hold up to
that type of stress. I would like to train my horses to pull a litter so
that we can avoid the hand carry out.

Muddy/wet terrain- where feet and vehicles bog down horses can still be
mobile. This includes areas where crossing swollen or rushing waterways
is a necessity. There is a limit of course but we can usually get
through much more than either vehicles or ground pounders.

Our county is also demo-ing a program where personnel (RNs) are trained
to use defibrillators and other more serious equipment that is still
portable. The idea being that often a victim is suffering from something
that our basic first aid skills can't deal with but a trained RN with
appropriate equipment could. We have suggested that some of the members
on the trial team refresh their riding skills. Most of us have several
MSAR trained horses. We could conceiveably lend a horse to a Medi Team
member and take them with us into the back country on a search or to a
remote location/victim. Haven't had the opportunity to try this out yet
but its still a possibility!

If necessary we could place repeaters in serious rough terrain. We can
get to the base of a site quickly and then hike the repeater up to the
location.

And, as someone else already mentioned, we are available for off-horse
activities as well. I like to remind our group that we are a Search and
Rescue team with specialization in Mounted work. That means any SAR
duties should fall to us as well. We have discussed this with our local
station and are called out for everything now. We participated in more
searches this last year without horses than with horses!

I'll keep thinking but I believe this list is long enough for now! <G>
Hope something in here helps!

Chris Pennington
Big Bear Sheriff's Posse
Mounted Search and Rescue