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
Click here to view the full PDF version of the Winter 2024 Meridian in a beautiful, magazine-style layout.
How many of you have ever heard someone ask, “What does the MRA do for me?” If you’re like me, it’s happened more than once, and at least in my experience, it usually comes from people who are new to mountain rescue. Having been asked this question many times over the years, I realized I
By Alexis Alloway, Winter Training Coordinator, Everett Mountain Rescue This article first appeared in its original form in The Avalanche Review, 37.2, December 2018 It’s 9:40 p.m. on a stormy winter evening. Twenty-eight inches of new snow, with around 1.5 inches of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), has fallen in the last 24 hours, winds have
Book Review by Doug McCall, Seattle Mountain Rescue “58 Years: My Life in Mountain Rescue” is a fun read about the early days of mountain rescue. Lynn Buchannan joined the Mountain Rescue Council (MRC and the original name of Seattle Mountain Rescue) after being approached by Ome Daiber in 1952 (Daiber, 1907–1989, is known frequently
By Chris Van Tilburg, M.D.; Chair, MRA MedCom; Crag Rats, Hood River, Oregon Body recovery in mountain rescue is an important task for wilderness first responders. We handle recoveries differently than rescues of live persons because they are usually less urgent and sometimes have a forensic component. My mountain rescue team, Crag Rats, of Hood
By A.J. Wheeler, MRA MedCom, and Stephanie Thomas, Executive Director, Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Benjamin Franklin As search and rescue members and medical providers, we are often faced with the reality that it will take us hours and sometimes days to reach those
Shaun Roundy, Utah County Sheriff Search and Rescue, MRA Intermountain Region Chair Remember your early years in search and rescue? Remember the energy, the enthusiasm, the eagerness to learn, the hunger to do and see and experience absolutely everything? My teammate J.T. Ferrin—an energetic, second-year recruit—recently coined a perfect term for such volunteers: SAR puppies.
By Debbie Kelly, Alpine Mountain Rescue Shortly after Mountain Rescue Aspen (MRA) was incorporated in 1965 there was a mission for a lost 10-year-old boy that sadly ended in a recovery. The family was so grateful for the rescuers’ efforts that they donated the funds for a small pan abode type cabin (600 square feet)
Due to insufficient submissions with the last Photo Contest attempt, we haven’t voted on a winner this time around – but Meridian editors and MRA officers would like to keep this friendly competition going! We will vote on a winner and honorable mentions, which will be featured in the Summer edition of the Meridian and
As a writer and editor with many years of experience, I can tell you that it doesn’t take a specialist to cover the stories I have in my career. I’ve been a newspaper police reporter, magazine editor, columnist, correspondent and consultant for such diverse entities as John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the International Association
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). B a c k c o u n t r y R e s c u e r(www.backcountryrescuer.com) is
By Tim Kovacs, Founding Commander, Honor Guard; MRA President 1998-2000 Influences and Inspirations The MRA Honor Guard was established as an unofficial service in 2000. The idea was not new. I have been able to trace the concept of it as far back as at least the late 1960s, when people including former MRA president
By Dave Clarke This year’s conference was held in Eagle County, Colorado from June 17th to 19th. MRA members from all of our regions came together for a weekend of fun, education, sharing and problem solving. From the beginning, this year’s event was billed as a return to our roots. The theme was incident management
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We are very pleased and excited to announce that the 2012 MRA Annual Meeting and Conference will be held in conjunction with the National Search and Rescue Conference. This is the first time that MRA and NASAR have partnered to jointly host our annual conferences. When: The pre-conference dates are June 4-6, with the main
Coconino County Sheriff’s Technical Rescue, Arizona—Full Accreditation The Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit has been in existence since 1976, serving the second largest county in the continental United States. Coconino County encompasses 18,661 square miles of Northern Arizona and includes within its boundaries the Grand Canyon National Park, Mt. Humphreys (tallest peak in
By William Laxson, MRA Communications Committee Chair Over the past 40 years, the chemistry used inside our rechargeable two-way radio batteries has undergone several major evolutions. In the 1970’s, nickle-cadmium batteries (NiCd) were widely used. Then about 20 years ago, the industry began a shift to nickle-metalhydride (NiHM) batteries to reduce environmental pollution by the
By Jules Harrell Shaun Roundy, a Utah County search and rescue professional, writes poignantly about the many events he’s participated in, by foot, sled, motorcycle, ski, rope, ATV, boat, belly (in the caves) and underwater diving for body parts. Shaun is the kind of guy you just want to hang out with and swap stories,
By Skeet Glatterer, MD There have been recent postings on the MRA listserv regarding an increase in costs for CPR training, as well as comments on the use and efficacy of CPR in the field. As a group, our medical expertise is an integral part of the rescue portion of SAR. Some basic level of