Training conference a big success
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June 30, 2013 |
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Search and rescue personnel and
emergency responders from around the
region gathered in Bonners Ferry last
weekend for an excellent Summer
Training Conference. |
| Most photos
courtesy of Dave Kramer |
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If you were going to get lost, last weekend
would have been the time to do it. The Idaho
State Search and Rescue Association summer
training conference brought volunteer Search and
Rescue members from all over the state, British
Columbia and Montana along with law enforcement
from city, county, state and federal agencies to
Bonners Ferry.
Boundary Search and Dive Rescue Team hosted this
year’s training conference and had a high level
of training courses for those that attended to
improve their skills and knowledge.
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A U.S. Air
Force survival instructor shows the art
of "furring" a stick to more easily
start a fire ... |
The two day conference was filled with great
instructors covering their specialties and
working with the conference attendees. During
the conference they received training on
searching rivers and lakes and safety around
water instructed by Kootenai County Sheriff’s
Office along with having a chance to see some of
the specialty equipment that they have available
including an unmanned underwater robot and side
scan sonar.
There was a refresher course on navigation with
map and compass and using GPS units in searches
followed by a Wilderness First Aid course
dealing primarily with hypothermia and ended
with “packaging” a hypothermia patient for care
in a wilderness setting where immediate help may
be hours away.
Friday afternoon also included a tracking class
taught by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Idaho
Trackers Association.
Saturday’s training continued with a course
taught by MedStar Helicopters on safety when
working around helicopters, setting up landing
zones and preparing patients for transport.
MedStar brought one of their helicopters in for
the training for a firsthand look at the
equipment and to answer any questions that the
group had.
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... A lesson
Tom Hanks would have appreciated when he
was "Castaway!" |
The afternoon session was filled with great
demonstrations by the four U.S. Air Force
survival instructors, who demonstrated different
ways to signal for help or mark an area for
rescue by a helicopter, setting up shelters,
fire building in difficult conditions and
appropriate gear to carry when on a search.
Not all of the conference was instruction.
Boundary Search and Dive Rescue had placed five
geo-caches (hidden containers) and provided the
longitude and latitude locations of each so
participants could try and locate the
geo-caches, which were all within a two mile
radius of Bonners Ferry in their downtime.
There was also a fun shoot on Friday evening at
the Bonners Ferry Gun Club, where Ed Robbins and
Fred Nystrom built a unique shooting challenge
for the group.
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Story
continues below ... |
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Attendees at
the conference learned much more from
four of the world's best survival
instructors. |
The conference ended with entertainment by Jim
Bottoms and a nice dinner catered by Jill’s Café
on Saturday night.
Boundary Search and Dive Rescue greatly
appreciated the local businesses that
contributed door prizes and supplies to make
this conference a success.
Safeway and Super One for food donations,
Huckleberry Variety, Larsons, CarQuest, Bread
Basket and Offroad Performance for door prizes
and supplies. Author Patrick McManus also sent
two autographed books for the conference, as he
remembered getting lost in Boundary County
several years ago and being found by Boundary
Search and Dive Rescue Team.
Mountain Springs Church hosted two of the meals
for the group and all of the instructors that
gave of their time and skill to better prepare
the Rescuers.
Danny Rawson, President of Boundary Search and
Dive Rescue Team, had a dedicated group of team
members who worked tirelessly to bring this
training to Boundary County.
If you have skills that you feel would benefit
the team and want to be part of a group that
helps others during a time of need, we encourage
you to come to one of our meetings on the second
Thursday of each month in the Waterways/ Search
and Rescue building located just west of the
Fairgrounds at the first boat launch. Meetings
begin at 6:30 p.m.
Idaho State Search and Rescue Association has a
membership of 933 members in Idaho. The group
supports local search and rescue groups and
Idaho Sheriffs with their resources and
training.
On Sunday, following the conference, the State
Association held their business meeting.
Local Search and Rescue member Dave Kramer was
elected as Second Vice President of the Idaho
State Search and Rescue Association.
The association usually holds three training
sessions per year for the overall group, a fall,
winter and summer session. They try to hold one
of the three sessions north of Lewiston. |
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