New Member Orientation

On This Page:

• Okay, you've paid your dues, so--now what?
• Responding to Callouts
• Who ???
• What ???
• Some Other Who's
• Miscellany
• Gear
• Attention Gear Freaks

New Member Orientation

Okay, you've paid your dues, so--now what?

The purpose of this page is to provide answers to some of the questions you may have as you start participating in unit activities. This is NOT an official document engraved in stone. If you have questions which are not addressed, please ask someone and remind us to add that bit of information to the page.

Tacoma Mountain Rescue Unit was established in 1958. The unit is compose entirely of volunteers, governed by a Board of Directors elected from the membership. Elected members of the Board are the:

• President,
• Vice President,
• Secretary, and
• Treasurer.

Terms of office are two years, with the President and Vice President elected in even years and the Secretary and Treasurer elected in odd years. The remainder of the Board is comprised of the Chairpersons of standing committees, including:

• Rescue Operations,
• Equipment,
• Training,
• Finance,
• Membership,
• Safety Education,
• Communications, and
• The Immediate Past President.

These chairs are appointed by the President. Membership fluctuates from 30ish to 60ish. As you start participating in unit activities, you may note the appearance of a clique. Although the word clique usually has negative connotations, our clique is a pretty positive thing. If you want to be part of the clique (?) - get involved. You'll find that the clique is simply that group of people who always show up and are always willing to do what needs to be done. You are very welcome to join the clique!

Searches in Washington State are always under the direction of some Public agency:

• Air searches for civilian planes are under the jurisdiction of State Aeronautics.
• Marine searches are controlled by the Coast Guard.
• National Park Service personnel control all searches within their park.
• Military reservations are the jurisdiction of their respective services.
• In incorporated areas searches are handled by the city police.
• Other non-military land searches are under the jurisdiction of the local Sheriff's Department.

Each of these responsible agencies (usually excepting searches on military reservations) may utilize the assistance of a variety of other agencies and organizations. A partial listing of Search and Rescue associations and organinations in Washington includes:

• WSAR,
• WMRA,
• Several Mountain Rescue Units,
• ESAR Units,
• German Shepherd Search Dogs,
• 4 X 4 SAR units,
• ARES,
• Bloodhounds NW, and
• At least one mounted SAR unit.

Responding to Callouts

Generally the unit is activated by the Department of Emergency Management (D.E.M.). The Sheriffs Office, Park Rangers, or other agencies requiring our services will contact the DEM and ask for a Mountain Rescue unit. They will normally ask for a certain number of volunteers and give a contact number for one of our Operations Leaders (OL) to call.

After the information is received by DEM, they will call a pager number that will page four of the unit OL's. One of the OL's, normally the Rescue Chair, will contact DEM and receive the details of the mission.

The responding OL will then alert the unit, by calling the group paging number. This will cause the twenty odd unit pagers to go off. Normally the OL will send his contact phone number followed by a 911. As the members with pagers are calling in, the OL is also calling the 50 some odd people on the active callout roster. On large callouts the OL will sometimes delegate the calling duties to another OL who will report to him with the names of those who are available.

At times the requesting agency may ask for a fixed number of specifically skilled people (e.g. Heli-qualified or swift water trained) and the OL will call members individually. On a general callout, the OL is a busy person. Keep in mind when your phone rings at 3:00 on a week night and someone asks if you're available for a mission, he wants to hear only one of four responses:

1. Yes, I'm available.
2. No, I'm not available (the reason is not that important to the OL.
3. Yes, I'm available after a given time.
4. I may be available but need to make a call to an employer, etc. (be advised you are not considered to be responding if you don't call back).

Do not ask him to explain the mission. He has fifty other people to call and wake up.

If your answer is yes, it is normally assumed that you will be available for three days. If you have a certain time you have to return home, advise the OL when he calls you. Some local missions with a known subject and known location can be over in less than eight hours. A search mission on Mt Rainier could last for two days or more. If you can go on the mission, the OL will give you a time to meet at the Cache or other known location.

Bring EVERYTHING!! Although the OL may tell you it is a stroll in the woods and you'll be back before breakfast, he can only tell you what he's been told and that may not be right. Get a copy of the callout roster, so that if you have to respond to a remote location and no one else shows, you can call to find out what's up. It happens all the time - You drive away from home; the OL gets a turnaround call from DEM; and he has no way of contacting you.

Most missions are organized with an ICS structure for efficiency. Increasingly, missions are also incorporating a Passport system, both for efficiency and for the safety of searchers. (See TMRU Operating Procedures for an overview of the conduct of a search/rescue mission.)

All members are registered as State Emergency Workers and assigned a DEM number, under the aegis of their County DEM. Members are therefore covered by DEM from the time they leave home until they return home, in case of injury or equipment loss or damage. Members are obligated to sign in and out, including your DEM number and your total driving mileage, for all trainings and missions. When you sign in, your time in is the time you left home, mileage is the total miles you drove for that activity, and time out is your estimated time of arrival back home.

Who ???

There are a number of people whose names you may hear every once in a while and not have a clue who they are, and who you may or may not have an opportunity to meet. The following are a few of those names:

• Shorty Williams - Long-time member, Volunteer Fire Captain, First Aid Instructor, EMT, EMT Instructor. Shorty hosts the Kit Party at his home every month.
  
  
• John Simac - Charter member of TMRU, one of the builders of Camp Schurman, built the unit's hydraulic winch. John is a regular at the Kit Parties and can occasionally be called upon to come teach us how to use the winch.
  
  
• Bill Lokey - Head of Pierce Co. DEM.
  
  
• Tom Sutton - Pierce Co. DEM, Tom keeps track of us, deals with all the paperwork to get us DEM numbers, and monitors training records.
  
  
• Chris Long - Head of State DEM.
  
  
• Tom Miner - Lt. in Pierce Co. Sheriff's Dept. Tom is The Man in charge of SAR in Pierce Co. You will likely have the opportunity to meet Tom on occasional searches or at trainings. He is a member of TMRU and is our primary Swift Water SAR instructor.
  
  
• Brian Holmes - Head of Washington State Aeronautics. Brian is the man in charge of civilian aircraft searches in the state.

What ???

The TMRU calendar includes a number of activities which occur regularly each month and years:

1. The first Wednesday of each month a Survival Kit assembly party is held at Shorty Williams' house from 1930 until 2130 hours. Sale of these kits is the unit's primary source of income.
   
   
2. The general membership meeting and training session is held at 1930 hours the second Wednesday of each month. This meeting is held at the cache except for the May (rock climbing/self help training) meeting, which is at Spire Rock, and the unit picnic which is held in August (usually at Tom Miner's home).
   
   
3. The Saturday or Saturday & Sunday following the general meeting is the monthly field training, held at a variety of locations.
   
   
4. The monthly meeting of the unit's Board of Directors is held at the cache at 1930 hours the last Wednesday of the month. This meeting is open to all members and attendance is encouraged.
   
   
5. The unit provides high-angle demonstrations at the Children's Safety Fair held at a Tacoma School in March.
   
   
6. The monthly field training in May includes both rock climbing practice in Leavenworth, and providing instruction for the self-help field trip of the Mountaineers Tacoma Branch Intermediate Climbing Course.
   
   
7. Annual helicopter training takes place during one or more of the summer months, according to the availability of aircraft resources. This training takes place at the cache, Grey Field at Fort Lewis, in the Shelton area, and in Snohomish. State regulations require that all personnel using helicopters recertify by completing the entire training program every year.
   
   
8. A multi-organization training, usually referred to as Bigfoot, is usually conducted in about August. This is normally the only opportunity we have to train with rescue organizations other than mountain rescue units.
   
   
9. It is becoming an annual event for the unit to give a demonstration on the climbing wall at the Puyallup Fair.
   
   
10. The Pierce County SAR Council sponsors the University of SAR at Pierce College in October of most years.
    
    
11. The unit Banquet (a pot luck dinner) is held (in lieu of the monthly meeting) in November.
    
    
12. Swift Water Rescue training is presented most years at a unit training and/or at a Swift Water Rescue I class.

Some Other Who's

There are a variety of roles related to membership category and to responsibilities during training sessions and missions (SEE TMRU Membership Standards and Policy ). A few other common roles are not described in the membership policy:

1. Medical - At unit training the responsibility for any required medical care falls to that member present who has the most medical training (usually a paramedic). On missions, the medical person may be designated by OL or TL and will, again, usually, be the member with the most medical training (paramedic, EMT, 1st Responder, 1st Aider) or the most recent medical training.
   
   
2. Edge - During high-angle activities one person will be designated by DL as Edge Control. This person coordinates communications and procedures between System workers and litter attendants.
   
   
3. Driver - The unit maintains a list of members whose names have been filed with the insurance company. Only these insured members are authorized to drive the unit truck.
   
   
4. Safety - During all training and mission activities which involve the use of rescue systems one person will be designated by OL as SAFETY. Safety is someone who was not involved in setting up the system. It is his/her responsibility to do a hands-on safety check of the systems and of the personnel tied into the systems.

Miscellany

A short piece of PVC pipe is attached to the gate at the cache. If you arrive late for a training or mission, check the pipe. If more people are expected after the truck leaves, directions are often left There. Members should maintain a personal record of their participation in trainings and missions. Include such info as date, location, nature of the training or mission, instructor or operation leader, and comments.

During all training and missions SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT. Anyone who sees something unsafe can stop a procedure by calling out STOP. The procedure can only be started/restarted by the TL/OL/Safety.

If personal gear is lost, damaged or destroyed, DEM will reimburse for repair/replacement on any activity with a mission or training number. Contact the unit treasurer for the necessary claim paperwork. (It may take several months for the paperwork to be processed and a check received.)

Technical Note - Brake bar racks (BBR's) are used for rapelling and for lowering systems. They are NOT to be used for belaying. Belaying is accomplished with tandem prusiks.

There are a number of knots, bends, and hitches that members are expected to be familiar with:

Water knot Figure 8 on a bight Long tail bowline Overhand knot Inline figure 8 Double loop bowline Double overhand knot Figure 8 follow thru Bowline on a bight Double overhand bend

Figure 8 bend Bowline with a bight Figure 8 knot Bowline knot Interwoven bowline Clove hitch Girth hitch Prusik hitch Load release hitch "No knot"

Gear

Although there may be occasional exceptions, it is usually not necessary to bring gear for the classroom training conducted at the general membership meeting. All personal gear should be brought to all field trainings and missions. It is not uncommon to be summoned, for example, from a glacier rescue on Mt. Rainier directly to a forest search in the Morton area. You should have the gear appropriate to both missions with you. Extra gear can be safely stored in the unit truck during missions.
MARK ALL PERSONAL GEAR.

Attention Gear Freaks

Participating in SAR activities will provide you with the excuse you need to buy some more toys. The following items are NOT REQUIRED. Many of the unit members, however, find many of these items useful and choose to purchase them:

• Tandem Prusiks - your own. 8mm perlon, 47" and 58 " long.
  
  
• Flight Suits - desirable for aircraft operations. Made of Nomex, a flame-retardant material. Sold at The Fox Hole surplus stores in Tacoma and Tilicum. Cost approx. $60 to $100.
  
  
• Individual BBR - made by Petzl. Can be ordered from Back Packer's Supply in Tacoma or REI. Cost about $65.
  
  
• Name Badges - velcro-backed, Custom made at Gaey Specialties in Tilicum. Cost about $3.
  
  
• Machete - for brush clearing. Available at The Fox Hole in Tacoma or at Federal Surplus on 1st Ave in Seattle. Cost $15 to $20.
  
  
• First Aid supplies - available at McPherson Supply Co., 8222 Portland Ave. E., Tacoma, Phone # 537-3800.
  
  
• Mountain Rescue patches and decals,and Pierce Co. SAR decals - available for purchase from Bill Weber at unit meetings. Helirescue patches are available from Jeff Sharp only after completing all of the required trainings and tests. We're here to save yours T shirts can be purchased from Gus Bush. Other unit T shirts can be obtained from the unit treasurer.
  
  
• Smoke - Usually available in the kayak department at Backpacker Supply and occasionally at REI.
  
  
• Surveyor's Tape - Available at engineering supply stores, and sometimes at office supply stores and lumber supply yards.
  
  
• Flares - Available at Backpacker Supply, boating supply stores, and REI.
  
  
• Signal Mirrors - Available at most sporting goods stores. Chem Sticks - available at surplus stores.
  
  
• Rescue Strobe Beacons - Firefly military style available at The Fox Hole in Tacoma and Tilicum. Cost about $45 used and $75 new (when available). Firefly II, which operates on a pair of AA batteries, is now on the market. Cost about $50 to $60. Available from LFS Inc. in Bellingham, 1-800-426-8860. Sometimes available at West Marine Supply in Tacoma.
  
  
• Round strobes - which operate on a single D cell, are available at REI and many boating supply stores. Cost about $25. Personal Radio Harness - Available by mail from The Rescue Source in Calif., 1-800-45 RESCUE. Cost $25 to $45.
  
  
• Swift Water Gear - wet suits, PFD'S, helmets, knives, throw bags available at various boat supply stores, dive shops, REI, and The Rescue Source.
  
  
• Survival Vest - Available at Federal Surplus on 1st Avenue in Seattle. Cost about $50.
  
  
• Purcell Prusiks - Made from 10, 12, or 15 feet of 6mm perlon.
  
  
• Slings - Color coded for length;
  • Green - 5',
  • Yellow - 10',
  • Blue - 15',
  • Red - 20', and
  • Black or Brown - 25'.

©Copyright 1999 Tacoma Mountain Rescue