Rick Lindfors – Meridian Editor in Chief
Search and rescue teams are no stranger to responding to calls for help from unprepared subjects or locating missing people who lacked the necessary clothing and equipment for their adventures. But these lapses in preparation can have life-threatening consequences as evidenced by two recent operations in Colorado and Oregon.
On November 8, 2023, Chaffee County Search and Rescue deployed to help a distressed hiker in the mountains near Cottonwood lake, Colo. The hiker had ascended a 13,000 foot peak earlier that day but battled a snowstorm on the way down. Instead of taking the same way down, they decided to bushwhack down an avalanche chute to try and reach a road. They were able to call 911 around 7 p.m. but SAR was unable to receive GPS information from the phone call. Officials told the hiker to keep moving downhill.
More than two dozen CCSAR volunteers assembled and deployed to look for the hiker. SAR teams looked up and down several avalanche chutes, dealing with steep terrain and harsh weather. Hours later, a team found what looked like footprints. They followed the prints for more than an hour and a half until they reached “an unusual looking rock” in the new snow. The rock turned out to be the hiker sitting in a fetal position and covered in snow. CCSAR says they had serious hypothermia and were only wearing a cotton hoodie with no way of rewarming themself.
CCSAR spent three hours rewarming the subject then assembled a rope system to lower them down the gully through new snow and over fallen trees. After several hours, the subject volunteered to walk out the rest of the way. They reached their base and an ambulance for evaluation at 7:00 a.m. the next morning.
In Oregon, rescuers retrieved an elderly mushroom picker who got lost over the Thanksgiving holiday with no equipment to sustain them. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office says the 77-year-old man was reported missing around 9:30 p.m. November 22 near Philomath, Ore. BCSO says several agencies worked through the night into Thanksgiving day, finding him around 3:30 p.m in a steep creek drainage a mile and a half from his vehicle. The man had left his pack, phone and other equipment and ventured out wearing Crocs sandals and socks in the cold weather. Along with hypothermia, he was weakened by a recent back surgery and also couldn’t hear SAR teams very well due to not wearing his hearing aids, an issue that SAR teams didn’t know about at the start of the mission. But the man eventually saw rescuers and stood up to greet them. ”He was in really good spirits because we were there […] he was making jokes,“ said Benton County Search and Rescue member Jim Blount. SAR volunteers assessed his condition, got him into dry clothing and wrapped him with a chemical heat blanket.
Incident commanders believed it was best to evacuate the man using a Coast Guard helicopter that had assisted earlier in the search. The helicopter was able to hoist the patient despite darkness settling over the search area.
Preventative search and rescue comes into focus with missions involving unprepared subjects, especially subjects who venture outdoors with little to no equipment or proper clothing. Corvallis Mountain Rescue, which assisted in the search for the mushroom picker, has offered webinars and talks on topics ranging from preparedness to avalanche safety. Social media is also a primary tool for SAR agencies. “[We do] various social posts about how you should be prepared before you go out,“ said Corvallis Mountain Rescue president Dan Sherman. In a release about their own mission, Chaffee County SAR said cell phones are not enough for backcountry communication. CCSAR says people should “verify […] if the device you plan to use as your emergency back up is GPS capable and if this information can be provided quickly to first responders.” People also need to carry essential supplies such as extra layers, a means to signal to searchers and a way to start a fire if needed. SAR teams across the U.S. also stage teams at popular trailheads as a means to educate people on wilderness safety and also act as a quick response force should an emergency arise.
Photos
Chaffee Rescue – Members of Chaffee County Search and Rescue evacuate a hiker who became lost in a snowstorm near Cottonwood Lake, Colo. (CCSAR)
Mushroom Team – Search and Rescue volunteers and a USCG air crewman prepare a mushroom picker for a hoist in Benton County, Ore. (Benton County Sheriff)
