Rick Lindfors – Meridian Editor in Chief At the start of the year 2022, my dog and I tested and received our certifications for search and rescue in Oregon. Training a search and rescue K9 was a unique, demanding and ultimately formative challenge for the both of us that brought us closer together and
As I’m writing this letter (mid April) there was just a healthy dose of snow on the Oregon Cascades, which made for an enjoyable weekend of snowboarding, my first since the 2020 closures. It was much needed. However, before going into the snowy weekend I had just finished reading over a series of briefings
Click here to view the full PDF version of the Winter 2023 Meridian in a beautiful, magazine-style layout. Tell us About Your Team Have an idea for a story or a noteworthy mission? Reach out to the Meridian Editor in Chief or your MRA region chair to submit an idea or report. You’ll receive guidelines on how
Rick Lindfors – Meridian Editor in Chief Calabsas, Calif – David Katz knew something was up when a teammate on Malibu SAR called him. It was January 9th, 2020, and his teammate told him there was a call for a possible aircraft down near Malibu Creek State Park. Katz made a series of phone
This is a tool that was piloted in the Washington MRA region last winter; a gear and resource decision tree to support our operations both at command and in the field. The concept is a loose algorithm to guide gear and resources in prep and during the mission, so it’s a dynamic scheme to apply to conditions
“Yeah, we’re getting OT for this.” “Oy! What’s one and a half times… zero?” Such is a common joke shared among rescuers during missions. I usually hear this one when the mud reaches a certain depth, a hill takes a certain incline or if our team has been out past zero dark thirty. Occasionally I’ll
Click here to view the full PDF version of the Summer 2023 Meridian in magazine-style layout. To download for off-line viewing, right click the image and select “Save Target As…” (or something similar, depending on your browser). Sponsor Spotlight: PatagoniaBesides making high-end technical wear, Patagonia was the center of one of the most positive pieces of
Rick Lindfors – Meridian Editor in Chief GLENDALE, Calif. – Intelligence gathering and quick thinking enabled rescuers to safely bring home a teenager who had gone missing in a park in Los Angeles County. The teen, who was autistic and nonverbal, presented a challenge in communication that serves as a lesson for other SAR teams.
Rick Lindfors – Meridian Editor in Chief The March 2022 Fourth Thursday session brought in Codey Gandy, an instructor with Echelon Front. Former Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin started Echelon Front to bring their lessons learned from combat and apply them to the private sector. Willink and Babin were commanders in Task
Situational awareness. Head on a swivel. There are plenty of phrases or keeping an eye out and pointing out anything out of the ordinary. As SAR people we’re pretty good at this; clue awareness, rigging inspection and kit preparation all require attention to detail and are things we train and maintain our skills in. It
