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Basic Team Infomation
- What do we do?
- Ground Units
- Mountain Rescue Team
- Search Dogs
- Mounted Posse
- Sheriff's Air Patrol
- State
Park and Open Space Rangers
- Local
Law Enforcement
- Mutual Aid
- FAQ - link to (pdf)
You know that we
are the Search and Rescue team, but what is it that we do?
We...
...search for missing people in the wilderness and urban settings all
over California
...get paged out for a search mission (usually at 2:00AM in the pouring
rain) and eagerly respond to the command post
...have two general meetings and one full day of training each
month on the calendar
...are all medically trained to at least the First Responder level (training
offered at minimal cost by the team)
...conduct evidence searches for various law enforcement agencies in
Marin
...are one of 16 Mountain Rescue teams in California so you can (with
proper training) respond to the middle of the high sierras year round
...have a bunch of neat equipment that has been donated, purchased through
contributions or thru the Sheriff's Dept.
...train CERT teams in Marin so they can help our team in the case of
large SAR's
...are a volunteer organization, so we provide all of our personal gear
ourselves (this can run several hundred dollars)
...have a fleet of vehicles from the Sheriff's Dept. with lots of amazing
SAR gear
...are made up of almost 50% adult and 50% youth members
...raise our own money for equipment
...conduct 30-50 operations each year
...assist with natural disasters, and pretty much anything which involves
injured or missing people
...go to work after searching all night
...enjoy what we do
A typical wilderness search is for a hiker that is overdue on Mount
Tam, reported by a family member or friend. Within an hour of getting
the call from the Sheriff's Office we will have 20-30 members on scene
starting a search. Most searches resolve within 8-12 hours but some
may continue on for 48-72 hours or sometime longer. All our members
are volunteers so they come to searches when they can but family and
work come first, we aren't expecting you to give up your life. After
all, it is a volunteer commitment.
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to the Table of Contents
Ground units
(two or more foot searchers) are dispatched from the command post, each
unit with a radio and their 24 hour pack.
These teams are given maps of the area, an assignment, and a briefing
regarding the subject. They search their assigned areas conducting
voice calls for the subject, looking for tracks and other clues.
These teams can expect to either stay in the field for extended periods,
or go through several shorter assignments.
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Mountain
Rescue Team members undergo additional training to perform
Snow and Ice Rescue, Technical Rock Rescue, Man Tracking, downed aircraft
locating (via ELT) all in an alpine environment. These teams are deployed
in the High Sierras all year round to search for lost backpackers, skiers,
mountaineers and other individuals lost in alpine environments. This special
team contains ice climbers, rock climbers, mountaineers and backcountry
skiers who are well trained in search and rescue and are able to be self
sufficient for several days in the backcountry.
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Search Dogs
are utilized, either bloodhounds or air-scent dogs. These dogs have
extensive training before they are certified to be used by OES.
Bloodhounds look for a particular person, using a piece of clothing known
to have been worn by the subject. An air-scent dog will locate anybody
in a certain area, they are good for clearing large areas. These
teams consist of the dog handler, the dog (of course), and one or more
search team members.
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Mounted Posse
members are used to clear longer, more strenuous assignments. In
general a posse team can clear three times the distance that a ground
team can. The Mounted Posse is its own entity sanctioned by the
Sheriff's Department, just as the Search and Rescue team is.
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Air Patrol will
be used on some of our searches if the conditions permit. They are
useful in conducting visual searches clearing large areas rapidly.
They use spotters and fly over the search area in an effort to spot clues
or subjects. They are also useful when we cannot reach remote areas
with our radios or repeater system. They "orbit" (fly
in circles) overhead while monitoring and relaying radio traffic from
the command post to remote field teams.
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State
Park and Open Space Rangers are used early on in the search even
before we are called if the search is in their area. They conduct
quick searches by driving the fire roads and patrolling any bodies of
water with their boats. They are utilized by our team later in the
search to provide important area knowledge, working closely with the search
management team. They do work in these areas everyday, who would
know the area better?
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Local Law
Enforcement Officers are used mainly in urban searches. As
in the wilderness, the local police are intimately familiar with the roads
and areas in their cities. They will conduct a cursory search of
the area by putting out a BOL ( be on the Lookout ) to all their units.
They provide us with investigative information and ground support.
They are useful in following up on leads turned up by the search teams
or management.
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Mutual Aid
is called from surrounding areas when our search resources are used to
their limits. All state agencies have a mutual aid agreement that
basically says "..when you need help we will come. If we need
help, we are going to call you." This is an agreement all state
agencies have in the state of California that also means that the requesting
agency will not be billed for the aid. BASARC
is a committee that helps the Bay Area teams communicate monthly and retain
a working knowledge of the other teams.
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to the Table of Contents
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