There are 2 great Cibola events this month that I hope all can attend. The summer bivy is an opportune time to use your gear in an overnight setting, a situation that most of us don't often face on missions. So dig out your stoves and that expensive bivy you never use and show up for some comraderie, restless sleep and even flyfishing instruction. The weekend after the bivy is our annual Mock Search. This is also a great time to work with other state teams including dogs, horses and many eager SAR humans. We'll see you there.

After the slow fire season missions are back at a regular rate so get your pack ready, fill the water bottles, waterproof the boots - and good rescuing.

Boots and Blisters

by Aaron Hall, Training Officer

September is going to be a busy SAR month, it should also be a lot of fun. We have our annual bivy on Saturday the 14th at San Gregario Lake (located about 5 miles east of Cuba on NM 126), the annual mock search on Saturday the 21st (location to be given during the call out), and a Search Techniques Evaluation on Sunday the 29th at the Three Gun Springs Trailhead. Please leave a message on the hotline if you plan to attend. If you can only make one event this month, plan on attending the mock search. It will be a great opportunity to interact with other SAR teams in our area and it should be a lot of fun. The mock search will begin with a call out sometime on Saturday evening.

Things will settle down a little bit in October, but they will still be a lot of fun. Our October training will be basic 4WD techniques for SAR on Saturday the 12th. I'm still working on a location for this training, so monitor the hotline or the website for more details. October's evaluation will be Litter Handling on Saturday the 26th.

August's training was coordinated with August's evaluation and focused on Terrain Identification for Land Navigation. There is a handout for this training available on the website. It is designed so that anyone can "self-teach" this course using the map and hiking course included with the handout. If you are looking for an interesting hike that is approximately 2.5 miles long give it a try. I guarantee that your terrain identification skills will be exercised.

President's Report

Vice-President/Training

Treasurer

Membership

Equipment

Medical

P.R. Committee

New Business

There was discussion on benefits of joining NASAR. Examples were: Association with a nationally recognized organization, liability protection, higher credibility, certification is one-time (we would still continue to recertify for Cibola every year) and discounts at their bookstore. Discussion will continue at the September meeting.

Terry Hardin brought in a vest that he ordered from Search Gear as an example of what the team could have as a team garment. David Dixon will bring in another version at the September meeting.

Pager problems were discussed in regard to responding to -911 and -1022's from Kaye Sinclair. The confusion arises when missions are over before teams can respond. Kaye has requested that Cibola's pager handler respond to all ARES pages, even if a 10-22 comes immediately after the -911; the team's pager handler instructions have been updated accordingly.

Who's Who and New

by Steven Buckley, Membership Officer

Two of our members resigned since my last column. Paul Dressendorfer and Steve Hochmann sent me resignation letters. Paul was with the team over three years and Steve was with the team over a year. I want to thank both of these fellow volunteers for their service to the team and the community. You guys did a great job and we were stronger for your service! Thanks. On a lighter note I would like to congratulate our newest active members. Jennifer Dellinger, Aidan Thompson, and Alex Fischer finished their training and will get their patches at this meeting. Congrats! We received several new contacts this month but had no new prospective members. I have finalized the Member's Guide for your review. Please review the changes and provide any comments to me ASAP. The changes are marked in blue.

We have begun planning our Mock Search. We are planning to hold it on 21 September in the Sandias. I have been contacted by many New Mexico SAR organizations that wish to participate. It looks like we have members from ten teams interested in participating. These teams consist of three ground teams, two horse teams, two dog teams, two communications teams, and one high-angle team. We also have a volunteer Incident Commander. Steve Crawford from Santa Fe SAR graciously accepted the assignment. Thanks to Steve for his crucial help. This year's Mock Search should be a great event. Speaking of the Mock Search, I need some victims...I mean volunteers...to serve as subjects. If we can work out the details with AMRC, at least one of you could have the opportunity to get strapped into a litter and lifted or lowered off of a rock. I expect to have a big line for that one. Others might get to make a new canine friend (need a small "scent item" in a new ziplock bag -- don't make the item too personal) or get rescued by a horse team. I need about three test subjects, so if you are so inclined, call me ASAP. Finally, I need ICS staff. I need Ops, Planning, Logistics, Safety, and Public Relations. Please call me ASAP if you willing to serve in one of these roles. Thanks for any help. I will be looking forward to my role as the guy throwing the "monkey wrench" into the works.

Gearing Up

by Tony Gaier, Equipment Committee chair, Equipment Committee chair

Things are going good with equipment & supplies! If you see any problems with the equipment when you sign it out or use it, please let me know a.s.a.p. After a mission or training please make sure everything gets back into the bags. If something is inadvertently lost, please let me know about it so I can replace it. Please see me if you need any supplies for your pack. We are well stocked with the usual items: MREs, batteries, trail tape, etc. Team members with Mission Supply Boxes please let me know if you need items to restock your boxes. Just as a reminder, all the supplies handed out are for missions not for your afternoon hike with the boy scouts. I still have plenty of topo maps of the Sandia Mountain range, if you're an active member and have not gotten yours yet, see me if you would like to have one. I have radios and GPS's for sign out, and active members have first priority for sign out. Sign out is limited to six months at a time. If you don't have a GPS or radio and would like to try one out, see me.

Medical News

by Mike Dugger

We had a productive review session with Kevin Nufer, our Medical Director, on August 19. Our president, CE coordinator, and a couple of medical providers also attended. It would have been nice to have more of our medical providers there, since this was a great opportunity to have discussions with Kevin. We reviewed our medical protocols, and a representative sampling of all missions where medical care was provided since Kevin became our director. The bottom line was that Kevin thought our policies and record keeping were in pretty good shape, and he seemed comfortable with the kind of medical care we are called on to provide and our ability to provide it.

There was some discussion of protocols for anaphylaxis and asthma relative to what is in the new state wilderness protocols and the protocols that WMA is teaching. At ESCAPE, several Cibola members took a medical course on the new wilderness protocols, where a sixth one for asthma was discussed. We presently operate under five (CPR cessation, dislocations, wound management, clearing spinal injuries, and anaphylaxis). We voted when we started our medical program that for several practical reasons we would not stock epinephrine (or "epi"), the drug treatment for severe anaphylactic reactions. However, our WFRs are qualified to administer it, and the new WMA asthma protocol instructs medical providers on helping people use their own inhalers. Kevin suggested that we develop our own protocol to assist people with administering their own epi for anaphylaxis and inhalers for asthma. This would give us two more important life-saving tools. The team should decide that this is what we want to do, and I'll begin developing the protocol with Kevin. Of course the team WFRs would not be able to use the asthma protocol until we have training on it at our next refresher.

In addition, we examined the EMS scope of practice for EMT basic, and it appears that we need no special protocols for those folks. They may practice at the EMT level, and if they have training documentation on the wilderness protocols, may also use those in a wilderness context.

I will continue to request CE videos for the benefit of our members who still need the credits. At Dave's suggestion, I will try to schedule some of these viewing sessions just before our business meeting. Continue to check the hotline for upcoming CE training opportunities, and I will be sending email to our listserver about them as well. Remember that all training requirements must be met by December 31, and that our renewal applications must be submitted by next March. I'll get the application forms for all our medical providers.

Web Non-News

I added few more interesting links added to the "other interesting web sites." Some of these are "back links" to sites that link to our site. As I see folks coming to our web site from other sites I check out the referring site and add it if it seems nifty. Check some of them out.
The team website can be accessed at http://www.cibolasar.org/

Sports Drinks for SAR

by Larry Mervine

During a number of SAR missions I have experienced headaches and fatigue. Which is are common warning signs of dehydration. The problem is not drinking enough fluids. Warm, plastic tasting water is not enjoyable, specially when you are more concerned with finding a lost person. Everyone at some time has seen advertisements for sports drinks. So being a courageous person, I tried different brands of sports drinks. Some sports drinks tasted better than others. So the question is are we better off drinking sports drinks than plain water? In searching the Internet I found out some interesting facts about how the body works when we exercise.

Of the six basic nutrients needed for a healthy body (water, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals), water is the most important when it comes to exercising. Even through water provides no energy, it is essential for the proper functioning of muscles and regulation of body temperature. Maintaining adequate hydration (water stores), especially while exercising, is key to top performance. During prolonged exercise (a SAR mission) the body depletes carbohydrate stores and hydration.

Carbohydrate is stored as glucose in the liver and muscles and is the most efficient source of energy as it requires less oxygen to be burnt than either protein or fat. During exercise there is an increased uptake of blood glucose by the muscles and to prevent blood glucose levels falling the liver produces glucose from the liver stores and lacate. The body's carbohydrate stores are gradually depleted and if not checked will result in reduced performance. Consuming carbohydrate before, during and after exercise will help prevent blood glucose levels falling too low and also help maintain the body's glycogen stores.

Sweating is the way in which the body maintains it's core temperature at 37 degrees centigrade. This results in the loss of body fluid and electrolytes and if unchecked will lead to dehydration and eventually circulatory collapse and heat stroke. During continuous, high-intensity exercise in hot weather, you can sweat away a two to four pounds (one or two quarts) in an hour. The effect of fluid loss on the body is as follows: 2% impaired performance, 4% capacity for muscular work declines, 5% heat exhaustion, 7% hallucinations, and 10% circulatory collapse and heat stroke. Thirst is not an adequate indicator of dehydration. By the time you feel thirsty you may already be dehydrated. And you can quench your thirst before the body's fluid replacement requirements are met.. The idea fluid replacement beverage is one that tastes good, does not cause gastrointestinal discomfort when consumed in large quantities, promotes rapid fluid absorption and maintenance of extra cellular fluid volumes and provides energy to working muscles.

Electrolytes serve three general functions in the body: 1) many are essential minerals, 2) they control osmosis of water between body compartments, and 3) they help maintain the acid-base balance required for normal cellular activities. The sweat that evaporates from the skins contains a variety of electrolytes. The electrolyte composition of sweat is variable but comprised of the following components: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, bicarbonate, phosphate and sulphate. Sports drinks contain electrolytes potassium and sodium.

Fluid absorption

Which is better water or sports drink? Most articles agree that if you exercise vigorously for less than one or moderately for less than two hours, water is all you need. Sports drink manufactures claim that their formulated drinks can be absorbed as fast as water and provide electrolytes and carbohydrates. Others say that electrolyte and carbohydrate requirements of most active people can be more than adequately met by consuming a balanced diet. Imbalances may occur under special circumstances such as prolonged exposure in the hot sun or exercise lasting several hours. Most search and rescue missions last longer than two hours, are not planned, and you may not have eaten a balanced diet, then drinking sports drinks can help. However, in spite of all the hype and advertising, none of the sports drinks are more effective than water and high carbohydrate foods at helping you to recover from a workout (mission) or prepare for the next one. Below are some help full hydration tips.

Tips to stay hydrated.

• During exercise, drink about eight ounces of fluid every 15 to 20 minutes. Cold drinks are absorbed most rapidly.
• Be sure the carbohydrate content doesn't exceed six to eight percent by weight. More than that will slow absorption and may cause stomach cramps.
• Refuel your muscles within two hours after exercise.
• Avoid drinks with caffeine or alcohol, which are thought to have a dehydrating effect. Carbonated drinks tend to make you feel full. Making it difficult to drink enough.
• Never restrict fluids during exercise.

Dehydration

The weather outside, including the temperature, the wind, the humidity, sunshine, will make a large difference in your body's ability to handle the heat and your fluid loss.

Urine:

Recommended contents of a sport drink.

• Only 6 to 8% carbohydrates
• Sodium 100 mg or less
• Potassium 25 mg or greater
• 50/50 mixture of water and sports drink

Disclaimer and Copyright notice

the Editors

The contents of this newsletter are copyright © 2002 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.