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What we do.
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| SEARCH AND RESCUE TRAINING |
The Search&Rescue division specializes in locating missing or overdue persons in wilderness
and urban environments. Whether it is a child lost in the woods or a person who failed to return home from a hunting trip,
Search&Rescue is there to locate these people and bring them to safety. To accomplish these missions the Search&Rescue
division has a mobile command post that can be set up on scene and is where all of the coordination and strategizing takes
place. Inside the command post crew members are able to print multiple missing person fliers, which include a picture of the
person missing and information about them. Crew members are also able to print off aerial photographs of the area in which
teams will be operating.
Search&Rescue has many resources and technology available to assist
with these missions. Personnel are trained in Basic Search&Rescue, which includes survival training, lost person behavior
training, and other important skills. Some members have received special mantracking training, which allows them to follow
a missing person by tracking their footprints or looking at the signs of their passage. Crew members also have global positioning
satellites and night vision equipment available, which means they can search day or night.
The Water Rescue division specializes in retreiving persons in distress that are in or on
the water. This may be a person drowning or a person in a disabled water craft. The Water Rescue division has four rescue
boats and two canoes. Two of the four boats have special SONAR equipment installed so that boat operators can scan the bottom
of the river or lake and find drowning victims. The boats are also equiped with global positioning satellite units.
The Dive Rescue&Recovery
team performs the same mission task as Water Rescue, however Divers are utilized to accomplish the mission. Divers earn their
Open Water Certifications through well known organizations, such as IDEA and PADI. Divers also earn their Public Safety Diver
certifications.
Our divers use special equipment, such as underwater communications gear, underwater
cameras, an underwater personnel-propullsion device, and dry suits. Our divers are able to talk to eachother under the water
and can also talk to support personnel on land as if they were talking on a phone. Their dry suits and full face masks allow
them to stay completely dry while under water, which means they can dive in ice cold water and not be affected.
When it comes to dive training and equipment, our divers get the best we can buy. Because when you're sixty feet under
water it's life or death.
You may be thinking to yourself...how
can someone be rescued if it takes a diver to get to them? Aren't they dead? In the Rescue business, there is what's
called the Platinum Ten and the Golden Hour. These are time references that are used to describe the optimal time in which
a life saving action is effective. Unfortunately most drownings do turn into a recovery effort, however there's always
a chance.
And there are certain times when the chances are greater. Such as when the water
is cold. When the water is below 70º, a victim is has higher chance of being brought back to life. This is called
Cold Water Resusitation.
Recovery missions for the dive team are not just limited
to victims. Recovery missions include objects as well, such as vehicles or evidence. Warren County Rescue has made it
possible to recover several vehicles and pieces of evidence that were under water.
It
takes a lot of dedication and hard work to become a diver. The training is extensive and the demands of
the role are high. Being a diver carries with it a lot of responsibility.
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The cave rescue team doesn't play around in the safe
tourist area...they're in the areas where skills and training are required to survive.
A cave can be a very dangerous
environment. Within minutes a cave can be flooded with rain water, pieces of rock can fall on a person, a person could fall
into a hole, or even succumb to hypothermia. It can be easy for someone to become disoriented in a cave, or to become lost
due to a flashlight failure.
Members recieve training from NCRC, the National Cave Rescue Commission.
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A victim is at the bottom of a 100 foot cliff. How do
we reach them and get them to safety? Our High/Low Angle Rescue team takes care of these situations. Ropes, carabiners, pulleys,
descenders, ascenders, harnesses, and special baskets are a part of the solution. Using such skills as belaying, rappeling,
or using mechanical advantages is another part of the solution.
Training can be very exciting...that is if you
don't have a fear of heights. Training is primarily provided through KCTCS and the EKU Rescue School. Members learn how
to safely operate in high/low angle environments, how to tie knots and properly care for ropes, and they learn how to set
up mechanical advantages--a system of ropes and pulleys that can be used to haul or hoist heavy objects with little effort.
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