Arizona SAR conferance 2013.....

Finishing on the East coast, I head west, to Phoenix, Arizona. There are logistical reason for having to do this that relate to the original plans for this trip which would have had me here for the entire duration, thus the flight home is from here.

I had arranged to attend the Arizona Search and Rescue Conference which was being held in Heber-Overgaard, about 3 hrs, north east of Phoenix along some incredible roads with typical western views –lots of huge cactus.

 

The conference itself was held at a Salvation Army summer Camp (Camp Ponderosa) which is a 11,000 acre site with large halls, conference facilities, and space, lots of it, and a dining hall.

The list of classes and on-going events was impressive; it included Helicopter safety, swift water response, ATV search, Search management workshops, Man tracking classes, Climbing and rope work and plenty of dog related training.

There was also 2 chaps form the UK Perkins and Roberts who were there from the UK

http://www.searchresearch.org.uk/

 they did a few presentation’s a day which were well received by people here.

http://www.searchresearch.org.uk/downloads/papers/540341779515bdf8d30125.pdf

This one was of particular interest.

 

It did however give me a chance to wander and see the other groups, due to the terrain, and (here) type of person they are called to search for a lot of the dogs do not train during the day between March and November, this is due to the heat, and on a very sunny few days in April I can understand why , but there were several classes or Tracking, trailing and air scenting, and hrd.

 

The ATV search people went out and 5 hrs later came back looking like dust monsters , coughing and spluttering their way to separate shower areas, the use of these vehicles in this terrain is essential with most SAR teams or Sheriff depts. having several.

Here are some of the vehicles that Sheriff depts. and SAR have access to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Saturday the front area and basketball courts were booked for helicopter training and safety classes, to us in the UK it may seem an extravagance to use helicopters for this but in this terrain and environment, moving entire SAR teams is not uncommon thus everyone has to know about this .

The arrival of 2 helicopter’s one Black Hawk from the nearby USAF reserve, and then one from the Arizona dept of Public safety started this class.

 

 

 

 

The dogs appeared to enjoy it (mostly) as they were allowed to jump in and out, then the aircraft were started and they did the same thing, some with different responses this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking to one of the county sheriffs, when they move an entire teams up to search locations normally they will use a Chinook, which is a military provision but easily done.

As with all events like this the evening meal n the Saturday was a spectacular steak BBQ where all the delegates got together and shared experiences, it’s been a hard year for Arizona SAR having lost due to illness and helicopters crashes some key member’s.

I left having made some more friends that will stay in touch, this really demonstrated the community and voluntary work in action, on the Saturday night nearing the end of the meal, one of the county teams was contacted and told to travel the near 130 miles to a location to search for a child in a large wooded area. The team started to pack up kit to go , as did every single other team there who were happy to go and assist, as it was the convoy was cancelled fairly soon after it had started but none the less it showed the camaraderie that exists.

 

 

My time in the US was nearly done so a day and a half of indulgence:

Leaving the conference a trip to the Grand Canyon, I managed to get nearly a full day there and did a very pleasant 10 mile hike along the Southern rim of the canyon from hermits rest to the visitor centre, it’s very impressive, and has no regard for health and safety which is refreshing.

I stayed overnight in WILLIAMS to the west of Flagstaff, on Route 66 and after a visit to a park this morning g make my way to Phoenix, to fly home.    

     

An interesting few days......Boston Marathon Bombing

 

Off to the Emergency planning office at Richmond, Virginia, to meet up with Mark Eggeman, Mark is a great person his enthusiasm for missing person search is wonderful , I was given a tour around the facility which is shared with state police and similar to that in Indiana.

SAR in Virginia does have a standard which differ from all but 3 of the other continuous states. This answers one of my continuous concerns about unchecked offers of search that may come in from volunteers.

I arrived on the Monday 15/4, this is a day that will, like 9/11 be etched in the memory of Americans, the Boston marathon bombing had an impact felt by many, in fact there was a member of staff from the Virginia emergency planning dept that was running, the news breaking and circulating was met with concern for a work mate in the same way as it would be by anyone.

Mark is a great advocate for search especially missing persons and his knowledge and database on such matters is impressive, but the information he has goes beyond  just missing persons and his research into body deposition will no doubt be of interest to many.

And a drive to Charlottesville, her to meet Bob Koester, I was fortunate enough to have done a lost person behaviour course in 2010 in the blue ridge Mountains with Bob who is responsible for ISRID .

http://www.dbs-sar.com/SAR_Research/ISRID.htm

There is no doubt that this piece of research has save numerous lives , it always great to talk to Bob who has academic application is without question the best in the SAR community, he has analytic view towards, missing person search , I was fortunate that he was able to meet up on the Tuesday night for a meal and chat then again on the Wednesday for a longer chat.

Bob has a series of new books one of which I have been asked to review and add to this is a great opportunity and privilege .

KittyHawk, North Carolina

On 2^nd of March, one day into the expedition I visited the  
 
 
Smithsonian in DC and saw the Wright flyer, the original one used by William and Orville in 1903.

On there I alluded to the fact that was part 1 of an ambition this is Part 2.

As a treat to myself on my birthday ,and being away from my little girls and wife I thought I deserved it, I was going to Kitty hawk, the location where the Wright brothers were the first to use powered flight .

I opened my cards that I had carried around from the family and was the first person in to the memorial park that day.

There isn’t much there.an exhibition, a monument, guided talk, but that’s not the point there is a strip of land running from a marker 812 feet out, this was for me an ambition fulfilled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fortunately for you I cannot download all the photos that I have taken, but here are some.    

Sad to leave

And so I left Camp Atterbury, with some amazing memories and having met some incredibly committed ,and knowledgeable individuals.

 

 

I did present a Kent Police Plaque to them which now hangs proudly in the gallery of others.

 

 

My intention now was to head east towards Gettysburg, which I managed with a short stop in Columbus Ohio.

 

And so to Gettysburg: most people will know because of the Gettysburg address given by the then president Abraham Lincoln.

I arrived in late afternoon so got to the visitor centre and managed to get an audio guide for the full battlefield tour, which basically entails putting a CD into the car and letting a guide take you from ;location to location giving  a commentary about who what and where things happened. If anyone ever finds themselves here with limited time I recommend this as the most time efficient method. I am aware that my brief description doe little justice to this location

 

But it was onwards toward Yorktown Virginia, this is home to the National Search and rescue school, I was there to meet Lt Col Clarke, who is director of the USAF Search and rescue school. The base at Yorktown is an operational naval and coastguard training establishment, thus photos are forbidden, but it was a very useful day with lots of information sharing.

But onto Kitty hawk….    

Hectic but amazing ........

Well that was a hectic, but incredible few days:

Monday:

I had already had the pleasure to meet with 2 members of Vigo County Search and rescue team

Robin and Rick are two of the nicest people and had arranged for us to go to a big cat rescue centre

http://www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org/home.html

 

This is like some rescue centres but that’s where it ends,  a guided tour revealed the stories behind some of the residents. Strange enough its legal to breed big cats here that means Lions and Tigers, some of the cats were bought at auction for $25 !!!!, which seemed bizarre to not just me but everyone.

 

 

 

Disturbingly there were also a number of tigers that were recovered from a crack house along with and elephant…I imagine the briefing for that raid going something like;

 

 

 

Q:“Any animals, dogs etc?”

A:“Em,.no……next question”

 

 

 

 

 The rescue centre itself is an incredible place to visit the stories of all of the animals’ are a great insight to the dedication of the centre and the volunteers who work there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was an unforgettable place to visit.

I am really grateful for the chance to see this unique location

Then lunch at a great award winning BBQ house, and off to training at the training facility they are lucky enough to have access to

Here I met the ham radio operators who work with the team and provide a superb resource to them, but not only with radios but are foot searchers as well. I met the local EMC whose knowledge and enthusiasm is very evident.

The team has a great breadth of experience and has both tracking/trailing and hrd dogs  

The team also gave me 2 t shirts for my little girls which are great, and they will proudly wear them.

http://vigocountysar.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday:

DHS, 10am a demo by the staff at Camp Atterbury to State police Chiefs, and top Army officers , they were all suitably impressed not only with the dogs but facilities and staff , this is important for them hers as it raises profile and potential funding opportunities.

The off to Midwest Search and Rescue, who I had already met with but this was pre-arranged before that. It was great see them again, they are a relatively young and enthusiastic team.

http://www.midwestsearchdogs.org/ 

They have trailing/Air scenting, and HRD dogs all of which did a very good scenario based exercise, which utilised not only dogs but search tactics as well.

They had arranged for a local TV company Wish 8 to come and do a piece about them and the work they do and mainly to see the dogs, I did a brief interview and was happy in any way I could to promote them as a voluntary organisation who, like all the counterparts worldwide provide a service to their communities.

 
 
 

 

 

Its wasn't just me they interviewed and the reported did run behind a few of the dogs and hide for them as well, it makes good TV and good publicity for the Midwest Team

It is unfortunate that Search and Rescue groups do not get the recognition they deserve, this is not just a UK or USA issue, many people assume when they see them that they are paid by police, and as we know they are not  

 

Time for a break......

Time for a break..

Having discovered that my time here only encompassed 1 holiday. This was not good news I have had pretty full on weeks with only a single day off thus no time to actually explore this part of the country.

So Easter, which here is only the Friday but true to form we met up at Atterbury , and I now have a memory stick full of information GOOD JOB DONE.

So Saturday and Sunday to explore , now I have a real interest in the National Parks which we have visited before such as Yellowstone ,Grand Canyon, they are great, a bit of research found Mammoth Caves a few hours’ drive from here in Kentucky.

 

Looking through the brochure of tours Grand Tour seemed fun.

 

And it was,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only here would you get a restaurant 35 feet underground, with a toilet as well!!!!!!!!

                                                                                

 

The guide described it as a 4 mile walk through the rock and it was pretty much but it was spectacular. 

                                                                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So to Sunday and a leisurely drive back via Santa Claus, yes there is a village dedicated to Santa , with a variety of appropriately named areas, unfortunately for me Santa appeared to celebrate Easter so it was all closed ,but worth the  visit.

Project Lifesaver

Today I was lucky enough to have met Mike Pruitt.

He is a fire-fighter at Wayne Township fire dept., Indianapolis

He is also the coordinator for Project Lifesaver in Indianapolis.

Project Lifesaver has been around for about 12-13 years ,it uses relatively easy use tech, based on radio waves.

“Citizens enrolled in Project Lifesaver wear a small personal transmitter around the wrist or ankle that emits an individualized tracking signal. If an enrolled client goes missing, the caregiver notifies their local Project Lifesaver agency, and a trained emergency team responds to the wanderer’s area. Most who wander are found within a few miles from home, and search times have been reduced from hours and days to minutes. Recovery times for PLI clients average 30 minutes — 95% less time than standard operations.”

http://www.projectlifesaver.org/

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This is a quote from their website, speaking to Mike he confirms that their average find time is 30 minutes.

I was aware of Project Lifesaver and that previously there was an attempt to use it in the UK however at this time there are no deployments of it .Here they use it on autistic kids with great find results.

Kent Police have looked at Tech tracking recently , this is cheaper and has a longer battery life than anything that we looked at.

With such impressive results and ,reluctantly I would say in these time of financial austerity with resources being reduced, we should  look more seriously at such tech?