We each manage the risks we face by our actions to them. Our mistakes add to the dangers. Our collective expertise in different areas serves to control the danger we face as individuals.

Your level of commitment will determine not only how well you perform in the field, but also how long you will last in the business.

You do need to engage in a continual course of development in wilderness skills.

Search & Rescue requires team work, plain and simple.

Supporting your team: No volunteer is ever required to respond to a given call. But every volunteer is expected to respond as frequently as they are able. Defining what "able" means can get tricky. You must find a balance between your commitment to Search & Rescue and the rest of your life. Missing a great many calls outs because you're busy with other hobbies is a good signal that Search & Rescue is not where your interest lay. On the other hand becoming a stranger to family & friends because you're always off doing good deeds can be very damaging to interpersonal relationships. Neither extreme is acceptable.

I hope these words get you thinking about your level of commitment to Cibola Search & Rescue.

Boots and Blisters

by Mike Dugger

The last training was a mock search and area search techniques training at Cedro Peak on Sunday, June 14, 1998. Nine members participated in the training. Mike Dugger laid out the clues and acted as Operations Section Chief, and Don Gibson acted as our Incident Commander. The scenario was an Alzheimer's patient who had wandered away from a group at the Cedro Peak campgrounds. He had water and some snacks (pretzels), and was last seen going out for a short hike on the area trails. Two teams were formed and sent to first search for clues in hasty mode on trails in the area. One team found footprints matching the subject's boot, and followed them on a trail for about three-quarters of a mile to a location where a water bottle had been dropped. Near this area, the trail of footprints (and pretzels) continued off trail for about a quarter of a mile. The team followed the trail of clues to the "subject," which was a T-shirt and shorts laying in a group of trees. Both teams got some practice looking for clues along the trails and areas just to the sides of the trails, as well as following tracks. In summary, the tracking portion of this training was too easy for our members. We'll make it tougher next time!

The next training will be on land navigation, and we're planning an exercise that should be a lot of fun. This training will be conducted similar to the way orienteering competitions are run. There will be markers placed in the wilderness, and participants will be given maps showing the location of the markers on the map. Participants will have to navigate to each of the markers, and then do something at the marker that will prove that they found it. This training will make use of many land navigation skills, such as using declination to calculate headings, following bearings, performing a resection (to determine position) and terrain visualization. It's not as easy as it sounds! We'll start with some classroom time to help everyone brush up on these skills before we do the field exercise.

The case for our Evac-U-Splint came from the manufacturer with only a simple handle at one end for carrying, much like you would carry a brief case. This arrangement is very awkward, and it is tiring to carry the Evac-U-Splint on trail by this handle for any length of time. During the basic litter-handling course that Scott Pierce and I conducted at the last ESCAPE, Larry Richardson offered to modify our Evac-U-Splint case so that it could be carried more easily. Larry has sewn some straps and buckles to the bag so that it can be worn like a backpack, or strapped onto a backpack. This should make it much easier to deploy the Evac-U-Splint when someone must carry it to the subject. I want to thank to Larry Richardson for donating his time and some materials to improve this piece of equipment.

Coming Attractions

by Tom Russo

Look for new hikes of the month starting in the August newsletter. If you'd like to write up a hike of the month, please let me know at least two months in advance. We will also be needing new authors for minilessons. Please contact me a month in advance if you have an idea for one. The deadline for newsletter submissions is the first of the month in which the newsletter is to be published.

On the Right Track

by Mickey Jojola

As the weather gets warmer and warmer this summer it will be very necessary to keep plenty of water handy for the SAR dog. Don't forget the household pets either. The heat can be very hazardous to all animals if there isn't adequate water available. Both Mary and I have been working diligently at training the dogs despite the warm weather. In general we work on Wednesday evenings and try to do two weekends a month. We are both looking forward to getting into the field with the dogs so we can really make a difference. Anyone interested just give either me or Mary a call. Happy searching.

Web News

by Tom Russo

The web pages have been somewhat stable for the last few months. We continue to get positive comments from visitors. As always, I am open to suggestions for new information to include on the site, and I am still looking for someone to help out with the design of the mission record and training record parts of the database. These two features should definitely be added to the web-based database, so that there is a platform independent, centralized cite for this information.

Pager Codes and Procedures

by Susan Corban

This article will explain what numbers and codes appear on our personal pagers and basic related mission call out procedure. For those without pagers, the Contact Paging office at 10820 Central SE (between Eubank and Juan Tabo) in Albuquerque will program team members' pagers to receive search and rescue group pages.

The Basic Call-Out Procedure

There are two Cibola SAR-owned pagers. At all times two team members carry these pagers in anticipation of call out for missions. These members are referred to as Pager #1 and Pager #2, and are scheduled on a monthly basis. Any active team member may sign up for pager #1, but pager #2 is selected from a group of designated gear handlers who will be responsible for getting all of Cibola's gear to the mission.

To initiate a search, incident command staff will designate a logistics contact person (usually ARES), who then performs team call out by paging the team group pager number; this page shows up on all team members' pagers, but it is not intended for everyone to return the call! One of the Cibola members operating the team pagers will send a group page indicating that the page from logistics is being handled. The member handling the call will talk with logistics to obtain mission information, including type of mission and directions to base. This person will record the relevant information on the Cibola Hotline for members to access.

What appears on your pager when a mission is called

When a mission is initiated, several pages in a row usually appear on Cibola members' pagers. The first is possibly a page from logistics indicating that a mission is being called. The next page will be from the Cibola Pager #1 or #2 giving notification that someone is handling the call for a mission. This should appear as the phone number of the person taking the call, followed by -111 or -222, indicating whether it's Pager # 1 or 2 taking the call. If another team member is handling the call out for some reason, that person's phone number should appear, followed by -333. This notification prevents duplication of efforts.

Next, after the Cibola member taking pager duty has time to obtain the mission information, the Cibola group page will be activated, telling everyone that there is a message on the Hotline for a mission. This will show on your pager as the Cibola Hotline number followed by -911. The phone tree is also thereby activated for those without pagers. There should be a delay of no more than about fifteen mintues before the Cibola group page and Hotline are activated if a search is initiated. At this time, members should leave a message that they're on their way and continue to check for updates on the Hotline. Those at the top of the telephone tree also respond to the Hotline, indicating activation of their branch. The person handling the call-out monitors the Hotline messages to determine the number of volunteers, that equipment is being transported as needed, and to ensure that all phone tree branches are activated. This information is relayed back to logistics by the person with pager duties. If a branch of the phone tree isn't activated, the pager handler will contact that branch or make arrangements for contact.

Other things that appear on your pager

Updates frequently occur after a mission has been initiated. Examples are changes in incident base or directions, or a call for more volunteers. A group page may or may not occur for updates. Information changes are indicated by the Hotline number plus -411. If a mission is imminent, but tentative or not yet official, a group page with the Hotline number plus -321 will appear. The Hotline may indicate a time frame within which a mission will possibly be called. Access the Hotline for more information. When a mission is concluded, a group page will appear as 1022 and the Hotline will be updated.

Occasionally, someone will conduct a test on the Cibola group page. This should appear as a series of ones, such as 1111 or 111-1111.

All group pages show on your pager as "1 page," then "group 1," followed by the numeric message keyed in by the caller. And, of course, mistakes are made and occasionally things may not fall into the pattern prescribed by pager procedures. However, members should always be able to determine the mission information needed, and that's what counts.

In summary, the following codes should be familiar to all members.

Hotline - 911	Yellow alert or mission, an official call out from incident command
Hotline - 321	Mission being started, no official call out yet
Hotline - 411	Information or administrative message
phone no - 111	pager no. 1 is handling call from logistics
phone no - 222	pager no. 2 is handling call from logistics
phone no - 333	other team member taking call from logistics
1022	mission finished
1111,111-1111,etc. (all ones)	test page

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Disclaimer

the Editors

The information in this newsletter was gathered from many sources and presents facts as we believe them to be true. This newsletter is not meant to be an official document, but a means to disseminate team information.