Mounted search and rescue

["wwfarm" <wwfarm@wiktel.com>]

Search for Dru - Part one

December 4

 

                                      Search for Dru

Many of you may have now heard of the major search in progress
in NW Minnesota and NE North Dakota for it has received lot of

 national attention. The search is for Dru Sjodin, who was apparently

abducted from a mall in Grand Forks ND in day light hours. Jeff Ezell

 has asked me if I could share with the group some of

the lessons learned from being in the middle of a multi-discipline,

multi -agency, high profile search with national media coverage.

The news reports that 2O law enforcement agencies are involved

 plus 30 FBI agents.

My team has a day or two off so I have some time to catch up on
 sleep , work and my notes.

Our team has been helping with the search in one way or another
almost every day for over a week now. The weather has been a major
 problem  for much of the search. Environmental  conditions varied
 from blowing snow, wind chill factors below zero,  temps in the 20s, falling
snow, freezing rain and wind speeds with gust up to 50 mph.

Our team, the Marshall County Mounted Sheriff's Posse has always tried to

 receive as much training as possible.  We have brought in trainers and

sent some of our team out of state for SAR training. We have worked side

by side with very knowledgeable SAR management people, like Tim Miller 

 and Jeff Ezell  from Texas EquuSearch. In actual experience we have been

 involved  with searches in our county, others  and even across state lines.

 We are a versatile team with a variety of search tools and skills  within our

group, which include horse, ATV, ground pounders, snowmobiles, sign cutting,

 air scenting (both horse and dog), at least five EMTs, management skills, etc.

We are proud of our team and know that SAR is an  on-going education, but

this search has really helped to expose us to new skills plus sharpen our

existing skills. We do not have all the answers, we discuss and learn from all

mistakes. 

 

Lessons learned will come in Part 2