There is more to being a member of Cibola Search and Rescue than just attending missions. There are many tasks that need to be done so that the team can run efficiently. Officers do these unseen tasks many times without thanks. So we need to take the time to thank Aaron, Steve, Joyce, David and Lili for the work they did for the team in 2003.

As for 2004, I have a dream that our team will increase its membership to 50; I have dream that Cibola SAR will work with all other SAR teams in a harmonious manner; I have a dream that FC's will call Cibola SAR not for the color of our shirts, but for the strength our SAR skills; I have a dream that SAR teams will look to Cibola for the large number of searchers in the field, our professionalism, and SAR knowledge. I have been to the mountain tops and see a sea of orange shirts in the wilderness looking for lost and/or injured persons. Share my dream and be more active with Cibola Search and Rescue this coming year.

See you out there.

Boots and Blisters

by Tony Gaier, Training Officer

I hope everyone is having a great new year and received lots of cool SAR toys for Christmas. If you've been to the Website, you will have noticed that the training and evaluation schedule is posted for the entire year. I know that many of you have busy personal and work schedules and just getting the minimum required training and evaluations in a year can be difficult. Hopefully this will make things just a little easier working out your challenging schedule. I can't guarantee the schedule won't change but I will try my best to minimize the changes.

I would like to solicit your help this year with the team's training schedule. I will have a sign-up sheet in the back of the room at the January business meeting. If you can help out by signing up for one of the many trainings this year I would be truly grateful. Obviously you might be unable to commit yourself to a training event this early in the year or need to check your schedule at home and work. That is OK, if later in the year you find time just let me know and I will sign you up for something.

One thing I would like to point out to everyone is that the training entered into the calendar for the year is the minimum training that we will have this year. If you would like to throw an additional training together like a Four Wheel Vehicle or Man Tracking Training that would be great! If you would like to do something special just let me know.

If you have looked at the calendar for the year you will have notice a lot of "TBDs". My goal is to fill in the blanks A.S.A.P. At the minimum, I will have all the details filled in for the scheduled training between monthly business meetings, i.e. the day of the January meeting you will be able to see details for all the training from that day to the February meeting.

Speaking of training, you will notice in the calendar we have a search techniques training this Saturday at the Bear Canyon open space area. Guess what??? everyone on the team is training deficient as of today, so please come out this weekend and get your first training event for the year! There are a couple of special events coming up in the near future. February 28th & 29th will be our Winter Bivy, I'm still taking suggestions for a possible location. Joyce has put together a Snowshoe and Rescue Sled training that will be conducted near Chama on March 6th & 7th.

I look forward to this year as the team's new training officer and all the challenges that I face. Finally I would like to leave you with a quote from our President (Larry, The SAR God): "See you out there".

Business as Usual:Meeting Minutes

by Joyce Rumschlag, Secretary

Minutes of the 12 December 2003 Business Meeting

President's Report

Aaron called the meeting to order at 1925 following the Annual Holiday Pot Luck. He began with statistics: Cibola attended 32 missions, spending approximately 1500 man hours in the field, searching or evacuating 34 subjects and one space shuttle (twice).

Awards went to:

• Kevin Mohr and Bob Baker as Rookies of the year.
• High Mission Attendance with 39% was David Chapek and Steve Buckley.
• High Training Attendance with 15 trainings was Tony Gaier.
• Exceptional Service Awards went to Steve Buckley and Tom Russo.

Elections were conducted. New Officers for 2004 are as follows:
President - Larry Mervine
Vice President/Training - Tony Gaier
Secretary - Aidan Thompson
Treasurer - Lili Ziesmann
Membership - Bob Baker

Larry Mervine spoke briefly to the membership about revising "old traditions". He suggested, as an example, that members that have never done a member profile for the newsletter work on one over the holidays. They will be published in the Member Spotlights column during the coming year. He reminded us that the training scheduled for 12-13 has been changed to an eval. Location is Juan Thomas picnic area. A training will be held on 12-27-03.

Tony Gaier informed members that the schedule for trainings/evals would be as follows: Trainings will be the weekend after the meeting, and Evals will be the following weekend. Exceptions will be weekends containing holidays.

Mike Dugger will be showing medical videos at David Dixon's house on 12-19-03 at 1830.

Meeting adjourned at 20:15.

Gearing Up

by Tony Gaier, Equipment Committee chair

Greetings from the Gear Guy! The team's equipment is in good shape and we have plenty of supplies on hand. If you need any supplies please see me after the business meeting.

Winter is here, please do a good check of your equipment before heading out on your next mission. I recommend moving batteries and water stored near the outside of your pack to areas deep within or close to your body (like the portion of your pack that is close to your back). This will prevent them from freezing. You will get longer use from warm batteries vs. cold ones. Obviously if your water supply is frozen, it's harder to stay hydrated.

Mark Espelien has volunteered to takeover care of the team's equipment. Thank you Mark for volunteering! He will most likely take charge of the equipment sometime in January.

Editorial

by David Dixon

My short time as editor has been an interesting challenge. I've learned a lot and feel honored to help continue the tradition of this great newsletter. How great? We certainly all refer to it and use it as a resource throughout the month. But you might not know that it get lots of hits every month from internet users. And people not only read it they also make use of the articles. Tom recently shared an example of a high school math teacher that was using some Feature Articles as part of a "Mathematics of Search and Rescue" lesson. Also, compared to most SAR Team newsletters we definitely rate. (Search the net. Most teams don't even have a newsletter). But I know ours could be better. The "Lost and Found" potential is not being met, and that's where all of you can help.

We all know that officers and committee chairs can post information in their own columns, but there are many other entries available to members.

• Feature Article and Mini-Lesson: There were years when there was one of these every month. Our database covers everything from Hypothermia (I used Mike's article in November), to Orienteering, Suicidal Subjects, Radio Communication and the SAR Pack (actually I did 3 Parts). The distinction between the two articles is not fine. Features are more informative, Minis more of well, a lesson. Alex is adding to that list by doing one this month on Dehydration. All of us are knowledgeable in something SAR or the outdoors. Let me know your subject and the editors will decide where to put it.
• Member Spotlights: These are the profiles that Larry spoke of. Most of the newer members have never done one. Sort of a mini-autobiography - family, why you got involved in SAR, whatever you want to put in it. We'd all love to hear about your exploits in Alaska in the 80's, your stint in the Marines in Bora Bora, or your seven kids. (Hey, I have seven grandkids!) Boring to you but great read to us.
• Hike of the Month: Some of us oldies remember doing Hikes of the Month. Revisit the tradition by planning, hosting and writing up a hike. There's even a cool hiker graphic that's added.
• Coming Attractions: This could be used to do a short tease for your great Feature Article the next month, or a short write-up on the upcoming training, or Pre-meeting plans.
• Classified Ad: Have something SAR or outdoorsy to sell. Advertise it here and get results.
• Bronze Boot Award: We've awarded the Boot a number of times over the last years with no accompanying newsletter entry. Honor the recipient even further by doing a write up of their heroics.
• Special Notes: Use this for anything that won't fit into the other categories: announce a new WFR or HAM, or FC (this month).

Especially now that I've gotten my newsletter bugs out I would love to see more articles every month. I know the officers will do their part. Do yours and use the newsletter to its full potential. Just let one of the editors know of your intentions early enough and we'll make sure whatever you do gets into print. And looks good at that. Who knows, someone in North Dakota might remember your article on fire-starting and survive a night out.

Public Relations

by David Dixon

P.R. goals for 2004 will be the same as last year: Recruitment and Promotion, Community Service and Team Advancement. In addition, we'll be redoing the team pamphlet this spring and hopefully the team poster and other handouts throughout the rest of the year.

I have been P.R. chair for many of my Cibola years and told Larry that I would continue if no one else stepped forward. Now that I am doing the newsletter I would rather have someone take over so that I can concentrate on that new role. Please consider the position. You would certainly still have my help and support.

P.R. Committee meetings will continue to be the last Wednesday of (most) months, 6:30 p.m., Frontier Restaurant across from UNM. There will always be a few months when we don't meet. Check the calendar. There will be a January meeting on the 28th. Please come and support CSAR P.R. efforts.

Web News

by Tom Russo

I have finally had a few moments to work on the database programming I had started last year, and have finally knocked off another of the old-style database programs. The new-style calendar program is now the only functioning one, and all functions that were in the old calendar program are now in the new one.

I am still way behind on working on the medical database, and I apologize to our CE coordinator that I haven't been able to get with him all this time to work out the necessary details. I hope another year doesn't go by without my working on this vital database.

Another open issue is the complete re-writing of the newsletter editing functions. The current programs have served reasonably well for the last 7 years, but there are some annoying idiosyncracies that are going to take a complete rewrite to fix. Watch this space for updates.

The team website can be accessed at http://www.cibolasar.org/

Dehydration: A serious concern in cold weather as well!

by Alex Fischer

Hydration is an important factor in everyone's health and safety. By being dehydrated you are more susceptible to getting sick and physical injury. Dehydration can be seen in many forms from obvious symptoms like thirst and parched mouth, throat, and tongue, to more subtle symptoms. More subtle symptoms, and symptoms that are usually associated with something else include, nausea, faintness, extreme dizziness, and vomiting. The best way to avoid dehydration is to drink more hydrating fluids; these include water (best at hydrating), milk, and juices, as well as other drinks.

According to a survey by Yankelovich Partners for the Nutrition Information Center at The New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center and the International Bottled Water Association, many Americans do drink nearly eight servings of hydrating beverages daily. But this practice is undermined by the nearly five servings of caffeine or alcohol containing servings Americans drink each day. "The net result is that most Americans are probably only getting about a third of the valuable hydration benefits they need," says Barbara Levine, R. D., Ph.D., Director of the Nutrition Information Center. Staying properly hydrated can fight off life threatening dangers such as frostbite, hypothermia and heat exhaustion.

How these varied factors are related to each other, you may ask yourself, but the similarities are amazingly pronounced. There is a strong connection between fluid levels, fluid loss, and heat loss.

Frostbite: Dehydration affects your body's ability to regulate body heat and increases the risk of frostbite. Fluids, especially water, are as important in cold weather as in the heat. Avoid consuming alcohol or beverages containing caffeine, because these items are dehydrating.

Hypothermia: As body moisture is lost through various evaporative processes the overall circulating volume is reduced which can lead to dehydration. This decrease in fluid level makes the body more susceptible to hypothermia and other cold injuries.

Heat Exhaustion: Heat exhaustion and dehydration can occur in even the coldest weather. Your many layers of heavy clothing readily absorb perspiration, so you may not always be aware of how much water your body is losing. Perspiration is also rapidly evaporated by the cold, dry air, and is rarely visible on the skin.

The signs of cold weather dehydration are much like the signs of heat exhaustion: The mouth, tongue, and throat become parched and dry; swallowing becomes difficult; nausea may be accompanied by faintness, extreme dizziness, and vomiting; a feeling of general tiredness and weakness sets in; muscle cramps, especially in the legs, may set in; eyes become hard to focus; and fainting or `blacking out' may occur.

Remember, dehydration will decrease an individual's effectiveness and lead to fatigue. Sometimes even worse symptoms may occur. Always drink plenty of water. It is recommended that people working in cold-weather consume about half a quart of water with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before going to sleep at night, with an additional half quart drunk every hour during the workday (more if the work is strenuous enough to cause noticeable sweating), for a total of at least 5-6 quarts per day.

Sources:

• http://oep.osophs.dhhs.gov/
• http://www.bbc-safety.co.uk
• http://www.ghilotti.com
• http://safety.kirtland.af.mil
• http://www.bottledwaterweb.com
• http://www.princeton.edu

Special Notes

As if Tom has not had enough to do he recently completed training to become a Field Coordinator. What an honor for Cibola to now have an FC among its ranks. Congratulations Tom! -- submitted by David Dixon

Disclaimer and Copyright notice

the Editors

The contents of this newsletter are copyright © 2004 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.