Mounted search and rescue

["Irvin Lichtenstein " <ilichten1@verizon.net>]

It is good to see the horse community support mounted search. In PA the PA
Equine Council has a foundation that is supposed to fund a barn fire
prevention program and a trails program.  We applied for a grant to buy a
laptop, a projector, and maybe a printer through a member of the foundation
board.  Got approved, but not funded yet. 

We got the regional anti-terrorism task force to fund 1-800 MHz portable and
17 pagers, the county provides dispatch and access to training facilities, 
The district attorney's office got us another 800 MHz radio, the first and
only time they have granted any money from a forfeiture. We have applied for
more money from the task force but a formal presentation has yet to be
scheduled.  We have 10 VHF software controlled portables and a 35 watt
mobile with power supply loaned to us, but no antenna.  We are trying to get
some WAM money and have been talking to Congress persons and state
representatives, but we are not in any one district. The state fire
commissioner says we are not a people rescue squad as defined in the state
grant program (again, no direct municipal first response area), and the new
EMS act says we are an ambulance with a first response zone so no money
there, and no federal grants either.  

We try to run a lean machine. Other than the VHF which talks to the state
DCNR and PSARC member teams we use county facilities.  As a mutual aid
response we can ask the IC to call out the cavalry in more than one sense. 
The county has several field communications units (all 7 counties we serve
do), Incident Support Teams (people to fill in the NIMS slots), and
specialized response- SMRT for mass casualties, technical rescue, trench
rescue, canteen services, a Gator, both medical and police helicopters, Haz
Mat, etc. and Public Works for heavy equipment. 

Our office space, phones, internet are donated.  We have to raise money for
insurance, the web site we are building, some radio batteries soon.
With narrowbanding coming by 2013 we are waiting to see what the state
agencies we talk to will do with their radio systems.  Our VHF analog can be
reprogrammed for 12.5 but at least one county now on 500 MHz is thinking of
going to 700 MHz 2 slot, a really unique system (nobody has built one yet,
not even Motorola who is trying to sell it), but they may go 700 MHz Tetra
instead.  

Irv Lichtenstein 
SE PA SAR
-----Original Message-----
From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lila Corey
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 5:44 PM
To: Mounted search and rescue
Subject: Re: [MSAR] funding MSAR