Volume 3, Issue 1
| Top of the Hill | by John Mindock |
1. Ensure that all tasks which the team has decided to undertake are executed in the manner the team expects, and that they are done on time. 2. Ensure that all members have the opportunity to be informed about all business pertaining to the team. 3. Ensure that team-desired tasks can be accomplished with a reasonable effort by those responsible for them.
My CSAR 'office hours' are 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. every night. Please do not call me for administrative matters any other time unless it is an emergency.
Recently, I have contacted the Committee chairs. All will remain in their 1997 roles except Melinda, who has asked to be replaced on the Equipment Committee. Mike will be her replacement, effective already.
I will be opening the doors to the meeting area at 5:30 on meeting nights. This time can be used for Committee meetings, Orientations, discussion of team matters, and practice on SAR topics. I will be arranging for the litter, ropes, etc. to be there. In addition, there may be lectures in this time slot on SAR topics. The general idea is that this one night can be used for multiple SAR activities instead of having them occur on many different occasions. This is related to my priority #3 above.
Thank you for the opportunity to be President of CSAR. I'll do what I can to help the business end of the team run smoothly. Your support for all the efforts by those who work on the team tasks is appreciated.
On February 14, we will once again be providing rescue support at the
Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon. If you would like to participate, please sign up at
the January meeting or leave a message on the hotline. Indicate if you will be
staying overnight (outside in the cold) on Friday or solely working the race
on Saturday. Larry M. will be coordinating the event and our teammate Andrew
P. will be a contestant.
| Boots and Blisters | by Paul Husler |
| Hike of the Month | Ellis Trail - snowshoe hike | 0800, Jan 31, Feb 1, 1998\01998 |
| Trailhead: Ellis trailhead, 12 miles up Highway 536 to Sandia Crest | ||
| R.T. Distance: 1 - 4 miles | Elevation Min/Max: 10000/10000 | |
| Hiking Time 2 - 4 hours | Hazards: Exhaustion, cold, sunburn, frostnip | |
| Topo Maps: USFS map of the Sandias | ||
This hike is for snowshoes. Go as far as you want then turn around.
Four hours on snowshoes is very physically demanding, especially at
this altitude. It helps to rotate so that different people are
breaking trail.
There is a parking area ($3 fee required) with two lots on the left side of the road. For the hike, cross the road, then go uphill in the open area until you see the sign about the 'controlled burn'. From there go north as far as you feel comfortable, considering the return trip. Don't follow the power lines - they go the wrong way. Snowshoes can be rented from REI, the New Mexico Mountain Club, and from SERP (for Sandians).
I will register this hike with the USFS, so your SAR orange sticker
should apply. However, if you go on dates other than the above, you
will need to pay the fee if you do not have an annual USFS decal for
1998.
| Business as Usual | by Terri Mindock |
Your ideas and suggestions regarding the Secretary position are welcome and
I look forward to working with everyone. See you on the trail!
| Mini Lesson | by Mike Dugger |
"PL tone," or CTCSS (continuous tone coded squelch system) programmability is a useful option. Some repeaters are closed and require a special sub-audible tone to get access, or to access special features such as a patch into the telephone system. Repeaters used in SAR missions are usually put in emergency operating mode, in which the PL tone is disabled. The PL tone may still be required to access the phone patch. Alternatively, the communications specialist or other member of the command staff is usually willing to make an emergency telephone call for you from base camp if necessary. If you are interested in accessing a repeater's phone patch, you will also need a DTMF keypad on your radio. This keypad provides the 12 standard tones (0-9, * and #) used by the telephone system to dial phone numbers.
A radio capable of storing several operating frequencies is a good idea. You can then change from one frequency to another by simply turning a knob or pressing a button. Opinions vary on how many channels are necessary. On any mission (even a large one) it is unlikely that more than six separate frequencies will be needed for field personnel (main mission frequency, your team plus two other team frequencies, weather, and a repeater). The communications specialist at base camp may use several more. Some people find it convenient to program their radio with a larger number of SAR and repeater frequencies and then not have to program their radio as often. This is a matter of personal preference. If you have a field programmable radio and are comfortable doing so, you can buy a radio with fewer channels.
Use of a speaker microphone allows the radio to be kept warm (improved battery life), dry, and protected while only the microphone is exposed to the elements. When using a speaker microphone, it is a good idea to lock the radio keyboard. Buttons accidentally pressed won't mess up your radio settings while your radio is riding in your pack or harness. If you can't hear or be heard, check your antenna - this connection frequently makes for poor signal transmission and is another important reason to do a radio check when you are about 1/2 mile from base camp. If your radio is not working properly, you may therefore return to base to get things fixed without wasting too much time. In addition to the initial radio check, teams should check in periodically with base camp to inform them of progress and that the teams are still in communication range. Unless instructed by Incident Base to check in at some other interval, it is good practice to check in about every hour. Even if monitoring other frequencies in addition to the mission frequency, NEVER go off the mission frequency or turn off your radio without informing Incident Base.
It is a good idea to scan mission frequencies, particularly while en route to base camp, so you don't miss any important traffic such as a find or change of base camp location. Remember to turn up the volume on your handy talkie when you use it inside a vehicle, so you can hear it over vehicle noise. The squelch control can be used to set the radio volume by turning down the squelch until you hear background static, then set the volume. If you do not hear static with the squelch all the way down and the volume up, this is an indication that something is wrong with the radio.
Always wait a second or two after keying the microphone before you begin speaking. This will give your transmitter (or the repeater) a chance to turn on before your information is transmitted. Failure to do this results in the first word or two in of the sentence being clipped off, and can be confusing for those listening to you. Also avoid yelling into the microphone or having it too close to your mouth, as this will distort your voice. Radios work best if you speak with the microphone a few inches from your mouth and at a volume used in normal conversation. If your transmission is broken or weak, yelling into the microphone is a normal reaction but will only make matters worse.
One trick that has been used when low battery power or extremely poor signal conditions prevent communication is to key the transmitter to produce a click. When someone's battery is going dead and they do not have a backup, or when there is too much interference to understand what someone is saying, the communications specialist may say something like "Is your battery low? Click once for yes and twice for no." The transmitter will usually have enough power to momentarily turn on and produce an audible click on the transmit frequency for a while after power is too low to transmit voice. In this way, the party in the field can pass information to base in the form of answers to simple questions. Remember - the goal is to convey information. If communications can be maintained for a while longer at a critical time with this method, it may be used. Of course you should always have a spare power source. If you lose all ability to communicate with base, you should immediately proceed to base or the nearest staging area that has communication with base.
The only exception to avoiding coded transmissions occurs in the case of fatality of the subject. It is important to remember that radio transmissions can be heard by ANYONE, and that there are usually other people listening to SAR radio communications than those participating in the mission. We want to let the Incident Commander (IC) or communications specialist know what is going on, without telling the rest of the world. We do not want family or friends of the missing person hear about their death first on the evening news. To prevent this, the IC will sometimes give a "death code" or "condition code," which is a special phrase to secretly let base camp know the condition of the subject. The death code may be a phrase such as "I found the lake," or "I found a red sneaker." In the excitement of initial attack, command staff may forget to issue a death code. It is good practice to ask for one before leaving base camp if you are not given one during briefing.
Since transmitter power and terrain features limit the range of radios, information will sometimes be relayed from one station to another until it reaches the intended party. For example, the Civil Air Patrol may relay information back and forth between a team in a remote canyon and incident base. Whenever relaying information, it is important that it be done word-for-word, exactly as transmitted by the sender. Any information added by the relaying station should be identified as such. This procedure is necessary to make sure the message maintains its original meaning from sender to recipient. Small changes in a relayed message may, after a few iterations, end up totally changing the meaning of the message.
NEVER use a mission frequency to hold a non-mission related conversation, or to pass on "cute" remarks. The mission frequency must remain open as much as possible to permit the transfer of important mission-related information. For the same reason, keep mission-related communications to the minimum amount necessary. Consider whether the information you are about to transmit, such as that Pepsi can you just found, is really important before using up battery power to tell base camp (and everyone else on the mission) about it. It is interesting to note that compared to just being on, a radio consumes about 6 times as much power to receive and about 50 times as much power to transmit. [1] For the same reason, it is a good idea to use a frequency other than the main mission frequency to convey "tactical" information. For example, when two teams are trying to meet up in the field, or when a member needs directions to base camp, use a separate team frequency rather than the mission frequency. The key is to avoid unnecessary transmissions. When you do find yourself involved in a lengthy dialog on the mission frequency, it is good practice to pause momentarily after every few sentences. This allows someone with really important information to break in. There have been situations where teams have waited 15 minutes to report tracks or a clue while some conversation in process finished up. This new information might render the conversation in progress moot. If you need to break in with extremely urgent information, say "break, break, break" and identify yourself. Likewise, you should stop talking when you hear three rapid breaks. The only thing on the frequency after three breaks should be silence, awaiting transmission of the urgent information.
Turn your radio off or the volume low enough for only you to hear, while in the vicinity of base camp. Having dozens of radios blaring in base camp can be distracting for command staff, and also wastes battery power. Another consideration may be members of the media or the subject's family at base camp. The media should get their information from the Incident Commander or their Information Officer, and mission details may be upsetting to the subject's family.
Some SAR members become licensed amateur radio operators so that they can have access to other frequencies and repeaters to convey information. Repeaters extend the range of mobile radios by receiving and re-transmitting information at higher power, and licensed amateur radio operators usually have access to many repeaters in their area. A "technician" class license issued by the FCC is not too difficult to get, and permits access to several amateur radio frequency bands.
In the Incident Command System structure, the communications specialist reports to the Logistics Section Chief. Their job is to relay and record information, not to make tactical decisions. On larger missions that may use a communications specialist, realize that command decisions will require consulting with the incident commander. Be patient.
The use of profanity in a radio transmission is never acceptable. The FCC prohibits this behavior, and may impose a large fine. Amateur radio operators self-police their privilege to use amateur bands designated by the FCC, and will generally report anyone heard using profanity on the radio frequencies.
| Pinching Pennies | by Lori Brockway |
At this point I don?t plan on making any changes in the way Melissa has run things in the past. This means that Gas voucher forms must be submitted each month at the business meeting. Any reimbursements for other SAR related purchases need the approval of the committee chair or the president.
You may have to be patient until I get the hang of things, so bear with me! Thanks
| Who's Who and New | by Mickey Jojola |
| Coming Attractions | by Tom Russo |
| Public Relations | by Tom Russo |
| On the Right Track | by Mickey Jojola |
| Member Spotlight: Lori Brockway |
I thought I had a burning desire to work in the Hotel Management arena, so I got a job at the Red Lion Inn in Durango shortly after it opened. I worked there for 3 years doing just about every job there was so I could get the experience to move up the "corporate ladder". I moved up, but I hit burn-out and decided at Hotel Management was not for me. So what do you do when you don't know what you want to do with your life? You go back to school. So that is what I did.
I moved to Tucson, Arizona and got my masters degree in Management
Information Systems from the University of Arizona. I then hired on at
Sandia National Laratory as a programmer. I have been there for
almost 5 years. So where does Search and Rescue fit into all of that?
When I turned 30 I realized what I was missing by being an overweight
couch potato. After that, I really got into hiking, camping, riding my
bike and being outdoors. It wasn't until I had to call Search and
Rescue to search for a missing friend that I really became aware of SAR
and all that SAR does. That experience led me to join Cibola SAR. I
have been on the team about 1 1/2 years. I have learned a lot since I
joined and I'm glad to be part of a group of dedicated people who
really want to make a difference.
| Web News | by Tom Russo |
I've been working on a set of training resources pages, and as of now I've
got a set of instructions and a checklist for the litter handling evaluation
and a page of photographs of various knots. The former will come in handy
for preparing for the litter handling evaluation, and I hope that the latter
will come in handy for those of us who haven't been around ropes all that
much lately. When the knot pages are finished I'll have a bit more to say
about them.
| Bronze Boot | by Tom Russo |
| NMESC Notes | by Mickey Jojola |
| Disclaimer | the Editors |