#24 - Complete!

Jeff & Heather at graduation

This one was nine months in the making.  But tonight all of my hard work paid off and I officially graduated from my Search & Rescue training program.  This was by far the best thing I could have done for myself this year.  Not only did it give me something to do to keep busy, but I met some really amazing people and learned some awesome survival skills along the way.

The Search & Rescue program from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Department trains volunteers in many areas of outdoor survival so that we can be on call to go on searches to find lost or injured hikers. I spent the last nine months learning how to make fire, build shelters, use a compass, get retrained in first aid & CPR, and so many other cool things.  I won't lie - it's an intense program.  Weekly meetings on Wednesdays and an overnight backpacking outing one weekend each month.  It was incredibly time consuming, but every moment was worth it.

I was hooked on this program after the very first outing in October.  We were out at Larch Mountain learning how to perform the different search types (evidence vs. people).  It was cold, snowy, and rainy, and our groups were off trail climbing over rocks, under tree limbs, through blackberry bushes...  I felt like such an explorer!  I had never ventured off trail before and to get to do it with the Sheriff's backing was such a thrill.  I didn't care for the litter carry very much (when you package your subject in a basket and your team carries the person to safety), but I wanted more.

In November we got to use our compasses and started to learn navigation techniques.  Turns out I can

My first tarp & tree limb shelter

rock a compass!  Part of our end of the year testing was to navigate an 8-point compass course - they gave us a starting point and a list of bearings and distances to follow.  Never in a million years would I have thought myself capable of completing a task like that, but I did!

December was my favorite outing.  This was our mock search.  We were divided into six groups and set out for a long distance trail search.  I was on one of the two medium-distance groups who set out to complete a 15-mile hike - in the snow, carrying a 40-pound pack, yadda, yadda, yadda.  But seriously, the snow was knee deep and my pack really does weigh 40 pounds.  I could not have asked for a better team for this outing.  The guys in my group kept our energy level and spirits up.  And when the snow was knee-deep, they forged ahead and broke the trail so that I and the other gal on my team didn't have quite as much hard work to do.  We were the first team to find our "subjects" and return to the vans - at 1 am!  We were exhausted - physically and mentally - but I could not stop grinning.  I had never pushed myself to hike that far - especially carrying that kind of weight and trudging through snow.  But I did it!

A bloodied Ashton

January's outing was focused on medical training.  Instead of roughing it in the woods, we got to stay in cabins at a nearby camp.  And of course the one time we have proper lodging and are not required to sleep in our tarp shelters, we have perfectly dry weather.  Oh well.  We spent hour after hour running through dozens of different medical scenarios learning how to treat so many different injuries - how to help out if someone has sprained or broken a limb, what to do if you suspect a spinal injury, how to stop bleeds, how to properly bandage someone, and more litter carry.  And also how to improvise your care using only what you can find in the woods and what you carry in your backpack.  Offering medical help is definitely easier when you're in a nice heated room with sterile bandages and ace wraps aplenty!

I kind of missed out on February's snow survival outing.  My poor teammates had to spend a night in
proper snow, which requires a very different kind of shelter setup.  I was busy with one of my Saturday HR classes.  I joined my group the next morning for compass practice though.

The theme of March's outing was "Embrace the Suck."  This was another rainy survival outing where we were required to "sleep" in our tarp shelters.  We were paired up (fortunately I ended up in a trio) and were responsible for building a fire and keeping it going all night long.  Having three people for these scenarios is very nice so that two people can tend the fire while one sleeps.  I don't know what was in the air this month, but it seemed that all of the teams really struggled with the fire - even though we'd made fire in the rain before.  I think my team called it quits around 2 or 3 am and we all went to bed.

April was our pre-certification outing where we were given the opportunity to challenge and test certain skills required for certification.  I challenged all 7 opportunities and passed 6 of them including shelter, navigation, overnight fire, litter packaging, and medical.  I could not get my natural fire going though.  I was stoked to cross off most of those items so that I would have more time for my fire building in May. Turned out to be a wise call since my natural fire in May took all freaking day to do!

May's certification outing was definitely the most challenging for me mentally.  I had a bunch of smaller, easier tasks to cross off for certification and then this darn natural fire.  I went straight to the fire building area immediately after breakfast Saturday morning.  I was forced to stop at lunch to take a break.  I returned to fire after lunch and kept working right up until dinner.  Fortunately, I finally got the darn thing to go.  No one else struggled quite that much that day - I guess I just have bad fire juju.  Oh well.  It's over and done with and now I am a fully-certified Search & Rescue member.  Woo!

I have already gone on two searches.  The first was for an elderly man with dementia who wandered
away from his adult care home.  It was the middle of winter and a particularly freakishly cold week.  Unfortunately he did not survive and his body was found the next day.  So sad.  The second search I went on was from a homicide case that was a few months old.  Investigators theorized that the suspected killer may have gone into the woods and killed himself so we searched the area for his body. To my knowledge, he has yet to be found.

I am really looking forward to this summer and the years ahead with my amazing Search & Rescue group.  There is an opportunity for me to do intermediate level training, which I am contemplating.  I'm still not entirely sure what all it entails (other than ropes training and also helicopter training - how to help them land; no flying), but I think it would be awesome!

If you love the outdoors and like to help people, you should see if there is a similar program in your area!  It's amazing!