park7

Thanks Iain, Sounds like you have a good team over there. My best to you. The other post makes a good point it's easy to get dragged into a 'I'll get your ass out of a situation better than that other guy/team' ...and that's no help to finding solutions. From where I sit it seems like a serious business (mountain rescue where cohesive teamwork rules. More power to you & your team. For a rescue guy who doesn't know Mt Hood - your updates are valuable and informative. And shit ... if Canada can pay for pro rescue service, I'm damned if we can't. Someone needs to keep shaking that money tree in Washington. Peace, Out.

Iain, I'd be surprised if the PJ's had not gotten some squared away climbers and were working with them, sounds like you were part of that team. So I guess I'd ask you what you thought of them? Are they pro's or not? What would you suggest as the way to improve these types of Ops. My suggestion of utilising these types of military as rescue leaders is that they have the main resources to get the mission done (aircraft, people, medics, pilots, surveilance equipment, medical supplies ...not to mention - authority) and they have the training and practice of selecting and work with local & technical experts to assist. My observations were regarding the command structure & mission effectiveness, certainly not the individual rescuers. With all respect intended; I struggle to see how an MRT or a sheriffs dept has the resources to do this stuff.

Just to clarify, I only intended the word professional in it's literal sense i.e. a pro gets paid whereas an amatuer volunteers for no pay. I know miltary rescue which is why I asked the questions. And no offence indended but PJ's do it better and for the record many spec ops operators are not only trained climbers but they also bring the skills needed to stablise and transport the patient. My point was only that speed is essential, the most desired situation is where the rescuer has climbing and medical skills with aircraft to insert and extract team members. There are many options to design a system like this from insurance based to tax based. Im just looking at this from an efficiency point of view and if you're going to call the military anyway - why not just designate them to do it in the first place. Probably cheaper but surely if you mobilise a helo right off the bat you'll get a higher save rate. Ask any paramedic about the golden hour. Speed is everything and a life saved is a lot less money for the authorities as a fatality. I don't get the nanny state concept - you don't need to be a pussy to need a rescue. A sprained ankle dealt with quickly prevents a drawn out rescue for a guy who in 48 hours will have a sprained ankle and hypothermia. No?

The reason that few people have heard of PLBs(often called PRLBs) is that they have only been authorised for personal civilian use since about 3 years ago. They work in exactly the same way that an EPIRB does. When the PLB is activated by the person carrying it, the signal will be picked up by the first civilian or miliary aircraft that flies anywhere over the activated device. It'll ID the victim's location with same level of accuracy as GPS. This then kicks off a process at a federal level. On some level it's like calling 911 from your house. EMS will respond if they can as soon as they can.

Probably, when all this is said and done there will be good questions and hopefully good answers. One question that is clear though is 'Why is this being run by a Sheriff's dept?' Is that dept equiped or experinced in rescue? What is the command structure? Does the volunteer MRT run the rescue or is it the sheriff. Why is there is not a professional or military rescue team in place for these kinds of responses. It seems that ultimately the Air Force Pararescue team do the job, why not start with them or designate a squadron to be the point team. Why send teams of volunteers organised by a sheriffs dept to do a job that usually requires air support with highly trained medics who are practiced and trained in all terrain rescue. Is the current command structure the way to go? What happens in other nations? Are there other people who question the effectiveness of this system? Can mountain rescue be handled by in a way similar to the way the coastguard service rescues people stranded at sea i.e. by professionals who are paid and insured to take risks and who are (to quote the coast guard motto) - 'always ready'.