Search and Rescue    by  Janice Price

	© 1996 Seattle Volunteer   Those of like mind who want to join KCSARA may call Ron Ryals at 205-8226 for more information.		"I just drove slowly down the street, shining my lights into the alleys and side streets, and there he was," Gil Drynan recalled of finding a lost child. Not every search is so easy, nor every rescue. But if you are lost and in trouble in King County, there are 2,000 volunteers-trained on their own time and equipped at their own expense-ready at a moment's notice to find you. They, along with Gil, are members of King County Search and Rescue Association. KCSARA, (pronounced "Kay-SARA") is the umbrella organization of about 14 or so different groups, each with special skills and abilities to offer. Search and rescue capacity is mandated by Washington law and comes under the authority of the King County Sheriff's Department. What is not mandated by law is the enthusiasm and overwhelming dedication of the men, women and youths who do the actual searching and rescuing. "These people are wonderful," says Ron Ryals of the King County Sheriff's Department. He and his partner, John Decker, coordinate efforts between the umbrella organization and the Sheriff's Department. "They are ready to go under the worst of conditions, and they don't give up." "If we don't find them, they can't be found," concurs Judy Douglas, long-time member and past president of KCSARA. Fay Pullen, wife of King County Councilman Kent Pullen, is profoundly grateful for this attitude: she probably owes her life to KCSARA volunteers. In January, Fay, an experienced climber, was with a friend on Granite Mountain in Snoqualmie Pass, enjoying the clear, cold snap of a winter climb. While cramponing across an ice field (crampons are like 'ice cleats' that allow sure footing on hard ice), her friend slipped. Fay reached out to grab her, but they both fell-about 200 feet. Fay's friend was shaken and bruised, but okay. Fay was not so lucky: she had one crampon spiked solidly in the ice when she fell and suffered twisting fractures of both bones in her lower leg. "I couldn't move," she said. "I literally couldn't move. The accident happened at about 2:30 in the afternoon. That time of year it gets dark around 5." Not much time for her friend to hike out for help. Luckily, the pair knew to pack a cellular phone, and they called 911. Mountain Rescue sent out a team on foot and Guardian 2, a helicopter team, also joined the search. Guardian 2 reached the pair first, but could not land because of the steep slope. Unfortunately, the helicopter was not budgeted for a winch, and therefore could not lift the women to warmth and safety. The ground team reached them as darkness fell, and was able to provide emergency first-aid until a military helicopter with a winch was located that would pull Fay aboard on a litter. At eight o'clock that night, Fay was warm and safe and on her way to Harborview Hospital. Without the volunteers of KCSARA, she would have faced a cold and dangerous night on the face of the ice field. Mike Bombyk, current president of KCSARA, came up through the ranks of the Ski Patrol Avalanche Rescue Team. Many members of SPART are emergency medical technicians, and all members receive 60-80 hours of training per year, every year. They operate ski patrols from November to March in all 14 of the ski areas in and around the King County area. According to Mike, they handle about 1000 incidents a year. Anotherlong-time crew is ESAR, Explorer Search and Rescue. These volunteers, trained in "cleaning" (minutely searching) an area are so skilled that they are often called into crime scenes. Members of ESAR were active in the investigation of the Green River Murders, for instance. They found most of the evidence, including the victims. KCSARA is available for any search and rescue mission, and has often been called into urban and suburban searches to help find a lost child or a disoriented and confused adult. But the most daring searches, the ones that demand the most knowledge and the most risk from the volunteers are wilderness rescues. Many people, seduced by the beauty of the Northwest wilderness, go into the mountains ill-prepared and without survival skills. Others, more experienced, are the victims of bad luck or poor timing. Rarely, it seems, is rescue required from an area that is easy to reach or easy to evacuate an injured person from. And It's in these tough situations that the member organizations of KCSARA work as a unit, each contributing a unique set of skills. These member organizations include the 4x4 rescue council, who use their own vehicles to provide transportation to and from the base camp from which the rescue effort is organized, and there are the ham radio operators who facilitate communications. There are volunteer organizations whose members are experts in underwater and swift water rescue, ice rescue, high-angle (mountain) rescue. There are the Pacific Northwest trackers, popularly called man trackers. The dog units, comprised of volunteers and their highly trained dogs, were loaned to the Oklahoma City bombing search effort last year. The Civil Air Patrol, skilled in locating downed aircraft, and the helicopter (usually on loan from the King County Police, the Army or Boeing) support teams have specific search equipment at their disposal. They can be crucial to rescuing survivors of air crashes as they area able to pinpoint the crash site and therefore the search area. One of the newest member groups, one still forming and training its members, is the Northwest Horseback Search and Rescue. At least 12 people on foot would be needed to carry a hiker out from a hilly, forested terrain if he could not walk. Two people with horses--no one is permitted to search alone--could accomplish the same task more easily. All volunteers, when out on a mission, are backed up by other volunteers who staff the base camp and provide food and supplies to the people in the field. These folks are either members of the Emergency Operation Council or trained family members of the field rescuers. The people in these organizations are from all occupations: truckers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, businessmen and women, housewives, students. In order to participate in rescues they are required to know and use first-aid techniques, and have the skills and the equipment to survive alone in the wilderness for 48-72 hours. Classes for the KCSARA Academy are held twice a year at McKnight Middle School, which the Renton School District provides to them free of charge. The equipment is each individual's responsibility, and training is provided by unpaid instructors who, like their students, give many hours of their time each year in order to stay prepared. All of this is done to potentially find and rescue a complete stranger, often in uncomfortable, unpleasant and risky environments. When asked why they do this, almost everyone's answer sounds something like this: "I know it sounds a little corny, but I want to give something back to my community. I live and work in the Pacific Northwest and my community has helped give me a high quality of life. I want to give back in kind." Those of like mind who want to join KCSARA may call Ron Ryals at 205-8226 for more information.