Volume 5, Issue 9
| Top of the Hill | by Larry Mervine |
Another reminder about team officers. No current officer will return in his or her current position. Mike and I need a break and are not running for any positions. Members can start nominating starting at the September business meeting and will close at the end of November's business meeting. Elections are during the December meeting. All active members can run for office. The training officer/vice-president needs to have all training evaluations current to be nominated. Don't be shy, there are a number of older team members who would gladly guide and advise anyone who does not think they have the experience to be an officer. Remember you do not have to be able to do every task, but be able find someone who can.
See you out there.
| Boots and Blisters | by Tom Russo |
As you know, I'm the sort of guy who looks hard at every experience for opportunities to learn more, practice more, and extend our capabilities. I know that to some this looks as if I never see the positive aspects of our work and focus only on the negative, but this couldn't possibly be farther from the truth: I love to see how this team has honed its skills over the years, and how well-prepared we are to deal with the tough situations we get into as part of this "hobby." I appreciate how hard every member of this team works to be a part of Search and Rescue, and applaud all of our efforts.
But that is as close as I'll ever come to sounding like "Barney the purple dinosaur," so enough of this love fest. We are none of us experts in all things and there are still things we can all learn to do, or that we can do better. To this end, I chose to structure our last litter handling training on September 9th a little differently to hone our technical skills just that little bit. Susan Corban and Nancy O'Neill pitched in and we spent a good chunk of our time reviewing how we use ropes and webbing to assist in technical rescues. We deomnstrated using that webbing that the team issues to us to fashion a quick, field-expedient safety harness, and on how to tie in to a safety line quickly and above all safely; this is largely inspired by the fact that a lot of our members had to stay at the staging area for 00-05-14 just because they had no seat harnesses, and the haul could have easily benefited from everyone's help. I'm sure those members would have preferred to be "where the action was" to having to spend a long, chilly night at a staging area waiting for something to do. In addition, we practiced hard on getting our knot skills sharpened up --- I realize that the last time or two our litter training has not included a solid knot-practice session, and this is a serious omission on my part. We had a good turnout, and Gene Mortimer approved of the ride he got in the litter. We did not have time to practice low-angle rigging as I had hoped, so we'll make sure to cover all that stuff in our November litter training.
October's training on October 15th will be on search techniques and will be led by James Newberry and Joyce Rumschlag. October's evaluation on October 21st will be on litter handling.
September's evaluation will be on search techniques on Sunday, September 17th. Please leave a message on the voicemail if you plan to attend.
It is getting late in the year, and my tenure as training officer will be coming to a close in December. I feel I have accomplished the goals I set out to accomplish back in January of 1999. Those included keeping our training schedule varied and interesting, to make all trainings be practical, hands-on practice in valuable skills, and to make sure our evaluation process was on track to keep as many of our members field-ready as possible. This has taken a lot behind-the-scenes work of the same sort that every officer of this team has to perform, but I've been very happy with the finished product. It's been a wild ride for me, and one that I am glad I took, but I'm looking forward to passing the torch to the next victim. Nominations for next year's training officer open in November, just two short months away. Please think about who you'd like to take this ball and run with it.
Happy trails.
| Hike of the Month | Panchuela to Jack's | 09:30, Oct 1, 2000 |
| Trailhead: Panchuela Campground | ||
| R.T. Distance: aprox. 9 miles | Elevation Min/Max: 8000/10400 | |
| Hiking Time 4.5 hours | Hazards: | |
| Topo Maps: Cowles, Truchas Peak | ||
| Hike Coordinator: Susan Corban | ||
Please let me know if you're going on Oct 1 so we can carpool or meet
at the trailhead.
This hike will start at the Panchuela Campground in the Pecos
Wilderness. Follow trail 271 a short distance to the junction with
trail 259. Follow 259 up the forested slope to the junction with 256,
but continue on 259 toward Jack's Creek. From the creek, follow 257
south across several meadows on the side of Round Mountain to the
Jack's Creek trailhead and parking area. Cross down the road and
across Jack's Creek back to Panchuela or drive in the car we will have
left at Jack's. For the fall scenery seekers, this hike goes through
one of the biggest stands of aspen in the Pecos.
| Business as Usual | by David Dixon |
We may need to start assigning members to do Pager 1 if people don't sign up.
Cibola's policy has always been that members should carry pack at all times while on missions.
Membership
There were no orientations nor new actives this month.
There will be newly scheduled PACE exam in September in Tijeras. Anyone who needs to take the exam is strongly urged you to take advantage. The next scheduled is in Las Cruces in November and then not again until May.
Secretary
David will not be running for Secretary next year and is willing to work with anyone who is interested in the position.
Treasurer
Monthly financial report is given.
Mike goes over a balance sheet for committee spending. Overall we are at 75% of budget for the year.
VP/Training
August training will be the Williams Lake Bivy Saturday. Will include map/compass and fire-starting. Maps and car pool information is given.
August evaluation is Search Techniques.
There is lengthy discussion of last months highly attended Mock Search. Most felt it went well. Many remarks on communication. See full minutes for additional team comments.
PR
August PR events include Fireside Chat and Hike and UNM Day. David requests help on UNM Day and Hike. East Mountain Rendezvous was canceled due to too few participants.
Medical
Nancy asks for WFR materials to send off. She asks for clarification on how many yearly hours WFRs need to stay active.
Old Business
Susan begins a motion to purchase 1st aid kits for WFRs from officers recommendations. Discussion ensues about costs, full kits and purchase and use of epinephrine. Motion is made and passes to spend $500 on supplies not including epi to equip 14 kits for all present team WFRs, active and prospective. Team would ask people to give back supplies if they leave. Supplies used on missions would be replaced by team. Second motion passes to spend rest of REI money on these supplies.
New 4 copy SOAP notes are given out, 2 to each WFR.
New Business
Larry inquires as to who has physical Pager 2. No one
responds. [Ed. Note: James Newberry, equipment chair, was not at this
meeting, and has indicated that he has it and knew where it was all along]
Writeup by Mike on pagers and suppliers in newsletter. It is agreed that we stay with Contact. Issue of changing companies is tabled to a later date.
Mickey asks those calling in to not leave extraneous information on the hotline. Keep it short with only needed info.
| Who's Who and New | by Susan Corban |
| Gearing Up | by James Newberry |
Paratus Et Vigilans
| Public Relations | by David Dixon |
Thanks again to all who helped.
| Medical News | by Nancy O'Neill |
There were concerns from a few of you about whether the State had received the registration forms we filled out on the first day of class. Cy emailed this information to the State office in order to register those of us who were enrolled in the class. When I talked with my contact, she affirmed this. I called Cy and he then mailed the hard copies of these forms. The State now has these and everything is fine.
I am still awaiting my CE coordinator number and can't get
classes or trainings approved for CE credits until I get it. I am aiming for
the new year as the date when I'll have all the requirements we need listed
and where and when you can take them. That's all for now.
| Web News | by Wot No Nus |
| Special Notes |
The next WFR class will begin in mid-October at the EMS Academy at UNM. This is the same class some of us took last spring to receive WFR certification. Call 272-5757 for the EMS Academy. -- submitted by Susan Corban
| Disclaimer and Copyright notice | the Editors |