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Monday, July 26, 2010
Every month, the LVMPDSAR Mountain Rescue team participates in two training sessions. One session occurs on a weekday night and the other session occurs on a weekend day. We train often for a number of reasons, but primarily because we thrive to be over prepared for any situation that we are called upon to help with and because just like most things in life, if you don't use it, you lose it.

Because of the technology that is available today, all of our team members carry GPS devices and utilize other battery-powered gadgets to determine location, elevation, slope, weather, and any other type of environmental information that you can think of. All of these devices are extremely accurate and helpful, however, what if our team was put in a situation where all of those luxuries were missing? What would we do if those devices failed to work or if the batteries ran out?

As a result of the worst-case-scenario train of thought, our team went back to the basics in this weekend's training session, put our electronic equipment away, and pulled out our maps & compass. Our scenario was an airplane crash where teams of 5 were picked up by the Huey and inserted to an unspecified location via fast-rope. Each team was given a map, coordinates of the location of the plane crash, and were instructed to bring enough food and water to be able to withstand a day in the 111 degree desert heat.

Each team was inserted into a unique location where they were required to decipher their whereabouts using surrounding terrain and map association. From there, each team determined the best route to take in order to get to the location of the plane crash. As each team navigated their way to the crash site, two victims were discovered. Both had sustained injuries from the crash. Here's a picture of the first victim as volunteers began medical and eventually packaged the patient for extraction.

If you look at the picture above, you will notice that there is a road in the distance. Once both of the patients were located and medically treated, the team extracted the patients, ultimately carrying them to the road that is seen in the picture.

As the team approached the road, the Huey was called in to extract both patients and rescue team members. In the picture below, the Huey has located the team and is looking for the best landing zone (LZ).


Once the Huey landed in the LZ, Rescuers continued to carry the patients to the helicopter. Once the patients were extracted, the rest of the team was extracted.

In its entirety, the training session took a little over 5 hours to complete. Each team successfully fast roped into an unspecified location, determined their starting point, located the crash site, conducted appropriate medical treatment to each patient, and extracted both patients and team members to wrap up the day. All of this without the use of electronic equipment of any kind!
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Recruitment Submission Deadline is Sunday, August 8th

Friday, July 23, 2010
If you're interested in becoming a volunteer for our Mountain Rescue team, the cut-off date for this year's recruitment is Sunday, August 8th.

Visit our recruitment page for more information on how to become a volunteer and to fill out an interest form.
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Survival Information

Thursday, July 22, 2010
Here are some survival tips to help you prepare for spending time outside. What's the main motto here? BE PREPARED!

Don't forget to hydrate often during these hot, summer months!
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Excessive Heat Warning in Effect through Saturday

Thursday, July 15, 2010
An Excessive Heat Warning has been issued for the Las Vegas Valley. Temperatures are expected to reach 112 to 115 degrees from now until Saturday evening.

If you have plans to spend time outdoors, take the time to prepare yourself or make new arrangements.

Drink plenty of fluids!


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One Mile South of Willow Beach

Monday, July 5, 2010
The body of the drowning victim was found one mile south of Willow beach late last week. The story, reported by the LVRJ, can be found here.

If you missed the original blog post containing details of this search, click here!
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Mt. Charleston Fire

Saturday, July 3, 2010
On July 1st, a fire broke out near the Mt. Charleston lodge in Kyle Canyon, located just outside of the Las Vegas Valley. In the event that the fire spread to areas where campers or hikers were located, LVMPDSAR launched a support team containing the Huey, SAR officers, and volunteers. Because the fire department was able to contain the fire, rescue efforts were not needed.

View of the fire from the cockpit of the Huey:


Fire from the air:


Spot fire:

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