Sunday, November 22, 2009

Robbs Valley- possible Suicide

"Ed" from Sacramento was missing from his Sacramento county residence and was reported suicidal. Authorities located his vehicle in the El Dorado National Forest. Working with the EDSO, more than one mission by search dog teams were run, looking for clues and remains. This case is open and will be pursued further subject to access.

Ellkins Flat SAR

On Saturday Nov 8th, 2009, EDSO was notified that two off-road motobikers were overdue to return to camp. Some nighttime searching was done at night by OHV teams. A full callout was scheduled for the next morning.
Command Post was set up. Incoming SAR volunteers were notified, over our ham channel, the clothing and bike descriptions of our two missing subjects.
One member noted a male ride by the CP and hence ran after him on foot. This person was confirmed to be one of the missing subjects. The other was nearby. They spent the night unprepared for the cold night, unable to build a fire due to mechanical breakdown of one of the bikes.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Slickrock SAR

Hello SAR Folks, (10-25-09 night)

The following are coordinates (WGS84/UTM) from this morning's SAR.

Command Post: 10S 736152mE 4306520mN - 6630 ft.
PLK: 10S 734958mE 4306114mN - 6391 ft.
First Prints: 10S 735267mE 4306278mN - 6528 ft.
Subject Location: 10S 734959mE 4306550mN - 6368 ft.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me if you'd like more information.

Regards,

Ryan Wimmer
SAR342, KI6UDK

A brief description of what happened (from my perspective):

A relative at home of the lost father + son called us to initiate the
retrieval. Father and son had a GPS (I think) and cell phone coverage,
and so Bernie was able to talk to them. They provided their coordinates, at
the top of a small ridge, then moved down the ridge a little to wait. They
left that afternoon (carrying a $9000 video camera) to take pictures that
they hoped to include in the son's yearbook. Somewhere along the way,
they lost the trail. They expected to follow the creek back to the car,
but found it difficult to make their way through the underbrush and were
uncertain whether the water near them was in fact the right creek. It
appeared they did not have a map, but were trying to rely on map
descriptions relayed to them over their cell phone.

We located their car at the end of Pickett Pen road (at the command post
coordinates Ryan provided). The subjects were perhaps 0.75mi away according
to the GPS. The subjects were able to hear Bernie's siren, so four of
us (team 1, the only team) followed a heading toward the last reported
coordinates. We did not hear a response to our whistles and yelling as we
moved toward the father and son. When we reached the top of the ridge
where they last provided coordinates, we could see a small fire they had
built a short distance down the ridge. They saw our headlamps. We reached
them about 3 or 3.5ish hours after we had received the call.

They were slightly cold and mildly dehydrated. We put out the fire and
made our way back. The son's (who I was talking to) mental awareness
improved as we got moving and they warmed up. It took a little over
an hour to return to command post. We gave them some more water and a
blanket. Bernie got some information, and we all headed back home.

It was a nice evening walk, a quick "search" and a happy ending. Thanks
to everyone who responded.

Tait

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Missing 60yr male; Mosquito

Callout late on Sat 10-10-09 for missing male. CHP H-20 found him on a rock in the American River canyon 830am following morning.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

SAR Ground Team assists with a down dog on Trail

August 15, 2009

The day started with an organized hike from Wright's Lake to Enchanted Pools and included a navigational training exercise. View of Enchanted pools

SAR Folks,

You've probably seen Alan's email regarding a dog rescue at Wright's Lake. You may have even overheard some of the 805 traffic. Here's the story.

About 4 p.m. today Ryan Wimmer and I were homebound on Wright's Lake Road in Rescue 3 when a gentlemen in an SUV flagged us down. He said his dog was in some kind of medical trouble up on a hiking trail. The dog couldn't move. Could we help? I told him to lead us there.

We followed him to the Lyon's Creek trailhead. There, he told us the dog was no ordinary canine, but a Great Pyrenees - a huge breed. This particular example weighed 160 pounds! And, though I had secretly hoped the dog would recover by the time we got there, it was still immobilized up the trail.

Though I was skeptical, the owner assured us that the dog was docile and would tolerate being carried out. So, Plan A was to drive in as far as we could, hike to the dog, package him in a Stokes litter and carry him down to the vehicles. However, the whole plan depended on getting through the locked gate across the Lyon's Creek Trail. We radioed the Man Who Knows Everyone, Frank Yost, he made some phone calls, and it wasn't long before a cheerful USFS gal named Amanda showed up with the keys.

Meanwhile, we were getting advice from all over. Alan Fudge looked up the correct aspirin dosage for a 160 pound dog. He warned us against Ibuprofin or Tylenol. Dave McCracken suggested putting a blanket on the dog to during the carryout to prevent it from getting agitated - this really works! Deanna and Bill Hart and their two guests drove down from Wright's lake to volunteer as litter-bearers. (There were others who helped - sorry I can't remember everyone.)

The rest went according to plan. We packaged the dog almost like a human, with backboard, spider straps, and Stokes litter. The carryout took perhaps 30 minutes, including 4 or 5 rest stops. By about 6:30 the dog was on his way to his vet in El Dorado Hills.

Helping a dog in trouble is a little out of our normal line, but this was a very satisfying afternoon's work.

Paul

Spot Activation

On August 14th, 2009, EDSO OES was notified of a 911 Spot Satellite Messenger msg from the Rubicon Springs area. SAR Coordinators, Deps. Morgan and Cathey initiated events that led to a successful SAR.

The SPOT was registered to an outdoor adventure company in Coloma. The coordinators learned that the individuals at risk in the travel party included an obese forty-something male and a teenager with diabetes.

Working with the USFS, CalStar was dispatched to the beaconed coordinates. The teenager had experienced a diabetic reaction and was airlifted to Barton Memorial Hospital at S. Lake Tahoe.

Several SAR members were ready to head out, but the SAR successfully concluded w/o a volunteer callout.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Grizzly Flat- missing dirt biker

A gentleman from NV had departed from a known site for a day run near a citizen's property. It appeared that he had not returned over a 2 day period. EDSO was contacted. Deputy Crawford- initiated a hasty search and investigation about the subject. A callout for ground, K9, OHV and management was made.
Within minutes of the arrival of SAR volunteers and coordinators, the subject's vehicle was approached again to leave a note and was discovered gone! Well anyway, the man was no longer lost and slipped away!.

Very short exercise.