Linville-Central Squad wins Land Rover Defender Service Award
Two MRA teams were finalists for the Land Rover Defender Service Awards that were announced in late November. Inyo County Search and Rescue in California and Linville-Central Rescue Squad in Avery County, North Carolina, were both finalists to win $25,000 and a new Land Rover Defender 130 SUV. Linville-Central, located in western North Carolina, was announced as the winner at the awards ceremony in California on Nov. 23. Chris Brown, who accepted the award on behalf of Linville-Central, said his team was incredibly honored to be recognized, and noted that the team had been busy with recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene. For more about the awards and all the finalists, please see: Defender Service Award Winners.
109 Degrees Below Documentary
Outdoor gear company Arc’teryx released a short documentary about a 1982 Mt. Washington accident that changed the lives of two climbers and the rescuers who worked to find them. The film tells the story of 17-year-old Hugh Herr who set out to climb Mt. Washington with a friend, but got turned around in a storm and spent several days on the mountain before being rescued. The incident profoundly affects both Herr and the rescuers who responded to the call. Herr lost both legs below the knee and is now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who works “to create bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs,” according to the MIT Media Lab. The short documentary is available to view on YouTube. Herr is also featured in a two-part podcast on Climbing Gold with Alex Honnold called “Adapted” about adaptive climbing.
PhD Candidate Survey for SAR Volunteers
Sarah Seiler, a PhD candidate at Antioch School of Leadership and Change, is working on her dissertation and looking for search and rescue volunteers to complete a survey about their work and the culture of their teams. “The purpose of this study is to better understand aspects of SAR team culture that are important in creating highly reliable, strongly performing teams,” Sieler says. Seiler, a volunteer firefighter and search and rescue team member, is studying high-reliability teams and core traits that they may share. She has created a short, 15-minute survey that asks questions about team culture, demographic data and requirements for SAR volunteers. Participants who are volunteers and are on teams that focus primarily on backcountry searches are ideal for her study. The survey link can be found here.
TEXTB
