At the end of May a handful of Brigade members attended ESCAPE (ESCAPE – NMSARC)- the annual New Mexico Search and Rescue Conference. Some of use even helped run the show. The two-and-a-half-day conference covered significant ground training wise. Classes included discussions on gear, how to use CalTopo, how agencies use cellphone forensics and satellite technology to locate missing subjects, how mapping technology and satellites are changing the way we run missions, etc. My main take away was that satellite companies are developing technology to offer cellular phone services from Low Earth Orbit to mobile phones like iPhone and Android. Satellite delivered cell service to mobile devices, in my opinion, could significantly change the way we communicate on missions as there would be no place on earth where we couldn’t access the Internet. I see a time soon when UHF and VHF radios become a backup way of communicating and not the primary.
There were also tracks on medical, technical rescue, canine and equine SAR and incident management. Another highlight was the helicopters! The New Mexico State Police flew in ABLE-7 and PHI Air Medical flew in one of their birds. The New Mexico Air National Guard brought in their newest Blackhawk.
In other news we’ve had a few missions and trainings since our last entry. In February an injured hiker outside of Los Alamos near the Guaje Ridge trail. The local air ambulance service, Classic Air, was able to land and transport the hiker out before we even left the parking lot. In March a hiker lost in White Rock Canyon was again hauled out by helicopter before ground teams deployed. May saw a large training mission in the Jemez Mountains involving several teams designed to give persons a chance to practice SAR skills and, more importantly, also look for a person that has been missing in the area for several months. One of the states Incident Commanders, a member of the Brigade, ran the mission and several Brigade members went into the field. We also had a few missions where we stood down before arriving at Incident Base or even before leaving home. We also participated in a couple of missions with sensitive outcomes that will not be discussed here.