On the afternoon of August 22, the Mono County Sheriff SAR team was paged for an InReach activation from a climber who had become stranded after getting off route in the Mendenhall Couloir on Laurel Mountain near Mammoth Lakes, Calif. The Mendenhall is a complex alpine gully with loose rock, route-finding, exposure, and significant objective
For many years, trauma patients in the backcountry have had few options when there was concern for significant bleeding and developing hemorrhagic shock, but with a rapidly expanding use of whole blood by EMS agencies across the country, that is starting to change. Grand County Emergency Medical Services launched its prehospital blood program in July
This summer, I was involved in the search for a missing hiker in the American River Gorge. It was nearing the end of a long day of searching, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees. As I waited to pick up a search team, I suddenly heard a call over the radio from a team on the
Snow Rescues… in September The Pacific Northwest has already had two incidents with snow creating the need for a rescue in the backcountry. Snow at elevation in the fall isn’t unheard of, of course, but hikers can find themselves caught unaware of quick and dramatic changes in the weather. “Fall and spring are transition seasons,
155.160 is THE SAR radio frequency in the United States. It is on everybody’s ICS-217, and it is often associated with the MRA. In fact, it may even be labeled “MRA” in your radio. Allocating limited radio spectrum is a complicated issue that begins with licensing. The FCC grants licenses according to frequency, use, and
