Lost and Found... the newsletter of Volume 6, Issue 3
8 March 2001
Editors: Mike Dugger, Tom Russo,
and Susan Corban
Cibola Search and Rescue
"That Others May Live..."
Top of the Hill Boots and Blisters Business as Usual:Meeting Minutes
Who's Who and New Coming Attractions Medical News
Web News Special Notes Disclaimer/Copyright
Recent Missions
 Calendar
 Callout Information
Back to Top
Top of the Hill by Tom Russo , President
I don't seem to have a great deal to discuss here this month. That's probably a good thing, because from where I sit it seems the team is running along smoothly and the day-to-day business of the team is getting done by those folks who agreed to do it. Now if only there were a few more missions to keep us busy...

In these dry spells, it seems to be pretty easy to let our operational readiness get downgraded a bit, especially after a few missions that turned out to be wild goose chases. Do remember, though, that being active with Cibola is a matter of keeping SAR a high priority in your life. We used to say that you should only put your job and your family ahead of it. These days making SAR a priority seems mostly to be keeping up on trainings and evals, but really it's missions that we need to be keeping up on. Naturally, job and family come first, but for the good of the community we ask that other activities take a back seat to missions.

See you all out there. Back to Top
Boots and Blisters by James Newberry, Training Officer
Here it is March already. It will be Christmas before you know it. I was pleased with the turn out for Joyce Rumschlag's Search Techniques Training on February 11th. As always, Joyce did a bang-up job.

We also had a cold and white winter bivy, Feb. 24 & 25. Kudos to the hardy souls who braved the elements with me. Doesn't the High Finance restaurant have a wonderful view? (Sgt. Buckley, next time, we really will dog pile on top of you. ha, ha).

The next training will be Litter Handling on March 10, 2001 at 9 a.m., at Embudo trailhead, east end of Indian School. Be there or be square. Mickey Jojola & Aaron Hall will be the instructors. From what I'm hearing, it might be wise to wear a good-fitting pair of boots. Not to mention, and just because, your full SAR pack. I will be randomly checking packs and giving out SAR demerits. (20 demerits and you get the privilege of buying the beers after April's training!)

The next evaluation will be a Litter handling Evaluation, April 7, 2001 9 a.m. Sharp! Embudo Trail head, east end of Indian school.

April's training will be Night Land Navigation: How to Follow a Bearing in the Dark. Instructor will be James Newberry. April 21st at 6 p.m., Bear Canyon, east end of Spain. Don't show up without a compass and bring your SAR Pack. I'll be randomly checking packs again and handing out SAR demerits. The training should be over by 10 p.m., just in time to go out and make good on those SAR demerits!

I'll see everyone on our next SAR adventure, Happy Trails.

Paratus Et Vigilans
Back to Top
Business as Usual:Meeting Minutes by Jeff Phillips, Secretary

Minutes of the 8 February 2001 Business Meeting

President's Report

Tom opened the meeting and welcomed the 26 Members and 5 familiar faces in attendance. Everyone in attendance introduced themselves and told their status on the team. Minutes from the January meeting were reviewed and accepted.

Membership Report:

There were no new active members to announce. David reviewed 3 resignations announced in January. David reminded members to keep track of their progress on membership requirements. A new tree-top was needed and Aaron Hall accepted the duty. David announced that he would have business card templates at the next meeting. Some changes in contact information were announced for a few members.

Secretary's Report:

There was, surprisingly, no Secretary's report. This, however, does not mean the Secretary was silent.

Treasurer's Report and Budget Committee Report:

Brian provided the financial report for January. Brian and the Budget Committee then reported the proposed budget for 2001. The budget was accepted with minor revisions and a 6 month review was established.

Vice President/Training Officer's Report:

James reminded everyone to call the hotline regularly and leave a message when intending to participate in evaluations. A WFRs meeting was set for 2/9 at 7 PM at Dion's. James requested people to volunteer to be evaluators and present pre-meeting training topics.

James discussed upcoming training and Susan discussed upcoming NM Mtn. Club Rock Climbing School Sign Up. James provided information about the Winter Bivy. Mike Dugger agreed to look into a "Ski-bola" event and report back. James discussed the possibility of having Ham Classes through the team and asked interested people to let him know. Finally, James announced that the orange shirts will be ordered and that he needed checks to complete the order.

Equipment Committee Report:

Chris explained that the recent purchase of batteries for the team radios needed to be done again. He announced that the lock combination to the gear cache had been changed. Chris mentioned that he has the usual perishable supplies available.

Public Relations Committee Report:

Larry stated that the PR Committee had a successful meeting and that they are requesting suggestions for locations for posters.

Old Business:

Tom and Jeff discussed the call-out worksheet that was recently made available on the website. Although it has some limitations everyone was encouraged to use it and make suggestions on improving it.

Pager duty was identified for February and March.

New Business:

Brian Lematta explained that it was necessary for the team to elect directors who would in turn become the officers. Brian explained what such a change would mean to the by-laws and the current member guide. Mike Dugger moved that the proposed changes be made and that the 5 current officers be nominated and elected as directors. Micky Jojola seconded and the measure passed unanimously.

Mike Dugger announced that a former member has radio equipment for sale per a letter he recently received.

Steve Kolk showed several sets of crampons for sale for $40.

The team recognized the fine work done by the Budget Committee. Back to Top
Who's Who and New by David Dixon, Membership Officer
We have 3 new prospective members, Lili Ziesmann, Janice Campos and Brian Koester. We welcome them to Cibola Search and Rescue and hope to see them out there on missions and trainings.

The following email was sent by me to the team listserve 2 weeks ago. Don's letter of resignation follows it.

It is with some actual sadness that I announce the resignation from Cibola of Don "Wheezer" Gibson. Many of us knew this was coming but it's always hard to lose a veteran like Don. Last year he bought an ATV and realized it could lug his equipment around and after many years of doing it himself that felt pretty good to him. So he joined NMSAR and got hooked.

Don joined Cibola in 1992 and went on dozens of missions before getting serious by becoming an FC 6 years ago. Aside from the great bull sessions we've all had with him his expertise and wisdom has certainly enlightened me during my 4 years in search and rescue. As a member of the PR committee he never missed a Frontier meal during my time as PR chair.

Even though he'll be missed at meetings and trainings we'll still see him barking orders at incident base and he's promised to keep munching tacos with us after some meetings.

On behalf of all members of Cibola Search and Rescue I would like to express our appreciation to Don for all the work he has done for Cibola and sar. If you do join us at the Cabana in March we'll buy your tacos.

Thanks and good luck Don. And remember, at your age, to keep all four wheels on the ground.

Long Time Member Don Gibson Bids Farewell

Most of you have never been on the other side of a SAR mission, lost in a strange country, alone, apprehensive and afraid you might not survive the situation. Thirty years ago, I ended up in this dilemma, and fortunately my flight crew and I were rescued by a SAR team. I never had enough time and words to thank them.

Twenty years later, I joined Cibola SAR to see if I could make a difference, and make someone feel as good as I felt when my life was saved. During the last nine years on the team I've far exceeded my expectations.

Six years ago when I became a Field Coordinator I debated resigning from the team because that's what the state seemed to indicate I should do. Now I feel I'm more of a liability than an asset to the team and so I contacted our Membership Officer and resigned.

The team has taught me most of what I know about SAR and allowed me to expand that knowledge so that I've become a competent Field Coordinator. That training has made a difference in working with you and others to find people and save lives.

It's amazing that people with little in common but search and rescue and who meet and train a few hours a month can do what is required as a team. What you give in the small off-hours of your normal life says a lot for the character and heart of all of you.

I'll see you in the future at meetings, trainings, and mock searches, and most importantly out there in those off-hours when it really counts.

Don Gibson Back to Top
Coming Attractions by Tom Russo
Once again, we're going to have to start asking team members to read their newsletter on-line if at all possible. We really need to get the copying budget under control. 33 members of the team are registered at the website, which should mean we only need to print out 7 copies. But somehow 40 copies a month get snapped up as fast as you can say "POD." As of this month, we will no longer be mailing copies to team members unless specifically asked, and will begin printing shorter runs on the assumption that if you have web access then you don't need a paper copy. Please help us keep our costs down and pick up your free version at the website, http://www.cibolasar.org/. Back to Top
Medical News by Mike Dugger and Mickey Jojola, Continuing Education Coordinators
The purpose of this article is to get all our members up to date regarding medical skills, certification, renewal, protocols and policy issues. We'll also give you an idea of our goals for courses that give continuing education credits that you can actually use to renew your medical certification.

Background

Cibola SAR decided about a year ago to begin providing medical care to subjects we encounter on search and rescue missions. This was motivated by the fact that after ground search and incident command support, which we already do very well, medical aid was the next most used set of skills that benefit the subject. Our colleagues on the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council (AMRC) provide a highly advanced level of medical care for subjects in District 5 and throughout the state. However, a paramedic may not be available on the team that finds the subject. Some basic level of medical knowledge can benefit most subjects on missions we respond to throughout the state, as well as allow us to effectively assist our colleagues with more advanced medical training. Our own Susan Corban did most of the work to find out what various levels of medical providers can do, how to get the training, requirements for certification, getting medical direction, and complying with state regulations. To date, members of Cibola have participated in team-sponsored training in Wilderness First Aid (WFA, fall of 1999) and Wilderness First Responder (WFR, spring of 2000). A few members have pursued more advanced medical training on their own.

Levels of Training and Scope of Practice

During search and rescue missions, recognized resources in New Mexico are provided with insurance and limited liability coverage under the New Mexico Tort Claims Act. Medical providers certified with the state Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Bureau also have some legal protection under the state risk management office. The phrase "scope of practice" refers to the set of allowable skills and drugs, defined by state regulation, which may be used by medical providers at various levels.

While WFA provided some very useful hands-on training for taking care of ourselves or companions in a backcountry setting, there is no EMS-recognized position for which WFA training is sufficient. The first EMS-recognized medical level is that of First Responder (FR). Note that this is FR, and not WFR. The state does not recognize wilderness designations at any level. Beyond FR the next levels are Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and this category is broken down into Basic, Intermediate, and Paramedic which are abbreviated EMT-B, EMT-I and EMT-P, respectively. Provisions in the state regulations allow FRs who choose not to be certified to practice their skills until July 2001. However, the medical policy of Cibola SAR, described in our Member Guide, requires certification of FRs who provide medical aid as part of our organization. EMT-Bs and above require licensure, which includes passing a state exam. After July 2001, no person may provide medical aid at any of these levels in New Mexico unless certified or licensed. Certification for FRs means they complete training from an approved curriculum, obtain CPR training, and submit supporting documentation and payment of fees. There is legislation in process to require licensure of FRs and well, but it will be several years before this becomes policy.

Cibola's decision to provide medical aid at the level of FR was made after careful consideration of the benefit to future SAR subjects, weighed against the amount of training, policy development, documentation and legal risk associated with providing this care. The basic conclusion was that for the average Cibola SAR member, who does not have a career in medicine, the First Responder skills could be maintained by training that our team could organize and provide. People with training above FR are of course wonderful additions to our team, and these members typically work in medical careers where they have the opportunity to keep those advanced skills current outside of their volunteer efforts with search and rescue. In evaluating the types of subject injuries we have seen during over a decade of search and rescue missions, training at the FR level can allow us to provide care for a majority of subjects and includes skills that can really save lives.

The scope of practice for a given EMS provider includes skills that are provided by training alone, and some that require medical control in addition to the training. Medical control refers to approval from a Medical Director via direct communication or written protocols. A Medical Director is a physician who is responsible for all aspects of patient care in an EMS provider service. Cibola SAR is an EMS provider service in this context, and we have a Medical Director by the name of Kevin Nufer, an emergency room physician at the University of New Mexico Hospital. I'm sure you'll agree that he has a terrific background for this, and we are most grateful that he has agreed to be our Medical Director. The scope of practice for our FRs includes the following skills and drugs, considering those for which we have the required medical control:

Renewal Periods and Requirements

The expiration date of certification or licensure is March 31 of a given year. Subsequent renewal periods run from January 1 for a full 27 months and end on March 31. Members who completed FR training in May of 2000 were actually certified in the last six months of 2000. In this case, the expiration date is counted from January 1 of the following year for a 27-month period. Therefore, our certifications expire on March 31 of 2003. All requirements for renewal of EMS certification or licensure must be completed by the December 31 that precedes expiration. Therefore, those of us that went through WFR training in the spring of 2001 must complete our renewal requirements by December 31, 2002.

Renewal paperwork should be submitted as soon as requirements are complete but must be no later than March 31, the final month of certification/licensure. An additional fee is required if paperwork is submitted in March due to the requirement for more rapid processing and the high volume of applications received during this month. I would suggest that the renewal application and supporting documents be completed and submitted in January preceding expiration.

Renewal of FR certification requires:

Requirements for higher levels of EMS providers generally differ in the type of refresher course and the number of CE credit hours required. For example, EMT-Bs must complete an approved EMT-B refresher and 24 hours of CEs, 12 of which must be BLS medical.

Continuing education credits are obtained for courses that are approved by the EMS Bureau after submission of the required documentation. CEs come in several flavors. BLS medical CEs target skills in the EMT Basic curriculum and deal with basic emergency medical skills such as airway management or spine immobilization. Intermediate or Advanced Life Support (ILS/ALS) medical CEs deal with more advanced medical topics. Finally, CE credits may be obtained for non-medical subjects that relate to EMS. Examples might be radio communication or land navigation. However, non-medical CEs can be used only by EMT-Bs and above to meet a portion of the renewal requirements.

Wilderness Skills and Protocols

So what about the wilderness skills we learned, if the state only recognizes us as FRs? Last spring when Cibola members completed WFR training, our Medical Director approved 5 protocols relating to the wilderness context (greater than 2 hours from Advanced Life Support, such as that provided by a paramedic on an ambulance). These protocols were intended to allow us to use the following skills, which are above and beyond the scope of practice of FRs: Recent discussions with representatives of the state EMS Bureau suggest that while Medical Director approval is required, it is not sufficient in order to perform these procedures. It seems that we must apply for special skills approval from EMS in order to use these protocols. Our instructor at the EMS Academy is pursuing getting additional skills included in the scope of practice for EMS medical providers with the Medical Director Committee of EMS, but this will take a long time.

Subsequent discussions with contacts from the Wilderness Medical Institute in Colorado and Marc Beverly, EMT-P and one of our colleagues from AMRC, suggest that it should be straightforward for our FRs to get EMS approval for wound management, CPR cessation, and clearing spines. Approval to reduce dislocations is possible but requires a significant effort to maintain proficiency and has been rarely used. Approval from EMS for anaphylaxis treatment appears unlikely. Mickey Jojola and I are working on these issues with the EMS Bureau, EMS Academy, and our Medical Director. We will keep Cibola medical providers informed of developments. Until this is resolved, our FRs do not have the authority to perform the skills listed in the wilderness protocols above.

Future Plans

As Cibola SAR's CE Coordinators, Mickey Jojola and I are responsible for making sure our medical providers operate in accordance with Cibola policy, and for making available opportunities for our medical providers to get the training they need. Since a majority of our providers are FRs, we intend to focus on BLS medical CEs and a course that meets the requirements of a refresher for this level. Our litter training has for years included patient immobilization and packaging skills. We intend to apply for CE approval for this course. The scope of the training should be broadened slightly to include getting the patient in natural alignment and into the litter while maintaining required immobilization to prevent further injury. The litter training is probably the only regular Cibola training that qualifies for CE credit. However, our goal is to develop several new courses for medical providers that would be offered as regular Cibola trainings. These may include splinting, use of the evacusplint, wound management, diagnosis/treatment of problems with body core temperature, and altitude sickness. Regular mission review sessions with our Medical Director also qualify for CE credit, and we plan to arrange these as well. Finally, we will be organizing a refresher course for our FRs. Our goal is to have a refresher course each fall. Ideally, the refresher course would be combined with a course where nonmedical members could get some basic first aid knowledge so that it would be beneficial to a larger cross-section of our team. We are exploring a couple of options and will report to the team at upcoming business meetings. We will also publicize or arrange new FR courses to qualify new medical providers, as needed.

Resources

Much of what I have learned has come from the most recent version of the state regulations in 7 NMAC 27.2. I have this document in electronic form. If you wish to have your own copy, provide me with a floppy disk and I will copy it for you. Please do not hesitate to contact Mickey Jojola or myself for clarification on any of these issues or to help with special circumstances regarding medical providers on our team.

FR Question of the Month

Define, list the symptoms in order of appearance, and differentiate between HAPE and HACE (not the brothers Happe and Hacce). Answers in next month's newsletter.

[Ed. Note: Each month there will be a "Medical question of the month" designed to inspire our medically trained members to hit the books and remind themselves of things they've learned.] Back to Top
Web News by Tom Russo
Nothing new on the site this month, but it seems that there are a few old things that newer members may not be aware of and that older members may have forgotten. I thought I'd waste some space here to offer a few reminders that the website is more than just a PR tool, someplace to hold the newsletter, and an excuse for me to write articles.

Our website has our current training schedule on-line, automagically updated from the calendar database every time James adds or modifies a training. In addition to planning for future trainings, the website has a few "training debriefs" where one of the instructors has deconstructed a training's results and described what went right, what went wrong, and in a few cases what team members thought about the training; we've got debriefs for two of our land nav trainings, a mock search, and a search techniques training. I hope to add more as we have increasingly complex and interesting trainings.

One thing that most folks seem to overlook is that there are also training handouts from old trainings so you can see what the attendees were given, and maybe study from it if you're in need of a refresher. There are some useful resources there in the "Training Handouts" section, and it wouldn't hurt to go visit them, even though the trainings for which they were written are long past. Some of these handouts were meant to supplement the trainings, and as such sometimes give more detailed information that could have been covered at the trainings themselves.

All of the Lost... and Found newsletters since Volume 1, Issue 1 from 1996 are archived at the site. To get to them you have to use the newsletter link at the top level page (http://www.cibolasar.org/) and not the one on the members only page. The one on the members only page only presents you with the current issue and the one in progress. The "keyword search" page accessible from the top level will search old issues of the newsletter as well as all the other public pages. It seems that while many non-members take advantage of the archive search, few members do.

While the members only newsletter page does show a "preview next issue" option, there is seldom anything to preview prior to the weekend before our business meeting, when the articles are caerfully eddited for misplet words and clumsy constructions and run on sentences and completely incomprehensible material and bad or ugly HTML formatting before being inserted into the final newsletter for publicationon the weekend before the monthly business meeting. Checking it too often will just waste time. Better to wait for the official announcement that the newsletter's done, and then "view current issue" instead.

All membership records are kept on the website as well, so you can check your personal training, certification and mission attendance records anytime you like. We encourage you to do so often. It's also pretty important that you keep your personal information up-to-date. There have been numerous cases of people who have left us with outdated email addresses, disconnected phone numbers, and incorrect mailing addresses. Please make sure that what's in our database is correct --- look at those records now and then! If you see something that's wrong, tell the membership officer.

Our member guide, training policy, and callout procedure documents are all available on the members only web site.

I'd also like to remind everyone with email accounts that there are multiple mailing lists available for team discussion. There's a generic list (csar-l), a ham-radio list (csar-hams), and a medical provider list (csar-medic). The lists go through levels of activity ranging from intense discussion to absolute dead silence, but are occasionally used to disseminate information and spark discussion. You're missing out if you have email and don't subscribe. Subscription instructions are available on the members only web page under "CSAR email reflector." Subscribing is easy, but you have to follow the instructions carefully or your subscription doesn't take effect.

Oh, and one last thing. When you sign up on the website for the first time, you are asked to pick a user name and password. Please remember that password! There's no simple way for me to change your password and passwords are stored encrypted, so there's no way for me to check to see what it is if you forget. Once you forget it my only recourse is to delete your userid by hand, and then you get to start over by re-registering and setting a new password.
The team website can be accessed at http://www.cibolasar.org/
Back to Top
Special Notes
Over a year ago some of our members solicited contributions, discounts, etc. from a number of companies. Brunton sent us a coupon (actually 2) for 40% off any product. Some members took advantage of it and got some nice compasses and other things at a great discount. I decided to email Brunton and ask if they would do it again since we have lots of new members that couldn't take advantage of it the first time. Lo and behold a few days later they sent back a nice letter stating that although they are very selective to organizations they offer it to, they thought ours was a great public service group and yes they would honor us again. Literally days later I got a packet with their catalog and another 40% off coupon. What a great company?

If you are interested in taking advantage of this for a compass or other product I will have their catalog at the March and April meetings or go to their site, www.brunton.com. I will plan on sending the order off after the April meeting so plan on getting me your check or cash by then. --submitted by David Dixon Back to Top
Disclaimer and Copyright notice the Editors
The contents of this newsletter are copyright © 2001 by their respective authors or by Cibola Search and Rescue, Inc., and individual articles represent the opinions of the author. Cibola SAR makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in these articles, and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Articles contained in this newsletter may be reproduced, with attribution given to Cibola SAR and the author, by any member of the Search and Rescue community for use in other team's publications.