The Unit was contacted by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management on Friday the 13^th of November at 6:30 P.M.. They had been contacted by the Lewis County Sheriff requesting eight Mountain Rescue volunteers to help search for a lost hunter.

William White a 37-year-old was last seen around 11:00 A.M. on Thursday morning in the Glacier Lake area near Packwood, WA. He had been hunting elk with four friends; they had decided to split up and try to find some elk tracks. When Mr. White did not meet them at the scheduled rendezvous, they tried searching for him on their own. They did not contact the authorities until over 24 hours later. An organized search was not started till 2:00 P.M. on Friday.

A call out was made and nine members responded; they were: Chris Berryman, Fran McFarland, Jim Andrues, Ken Capron, Stan and Angela Kartes, Jeff Sharp, Marcus Donaldson and Cheryl Wells. They were told to meet at the Cache at 4:00A.M. Saturday morning or at the search base at the Packwood Community Center at 6:00 A.M.

After arriving at the search base Jeff Sharp received a briefing from the Lewis County Sheriff. Mr. White was 6ft, 240lbs, wearing a solid orange coverall, he had no pack or other survival gear and size 13 boots. He also had a bad back and heart problems which might limit his movement in the rough terrain.

The responding members were split into two teams. Team #1 was Chris, Stan, Angela and Marcus; Team # 2 was Jim, Ken, Fran and Cheryl. Jeff remained at the search base as Operations Leader. The teams were sent into the Glacier Lake area along with other Mountain Rescue teams from Olympic Mountain Rescue which had also been called. They searched steep wooded slopes above the lake in a type 2 grid search. Team #1's area was larger than that of the second team so when they returned to search base around 12:30 P.M. it was decided to send both team back into the first area to complete the search. They returned after nightfall without finding Mr. White, and after a debriefing with the sheriff they were released to return home arriving back at the Cache around 8:30 P.M.

However; this was not the end of the search; the Unit was again contacted on Sunday evening around 5:30 P.M. The Lewis County Sheriff was going to make one more attempt to find Mr. White. The weather was supposed to improve on Monday morning enough to allow helicopters to search the area. They ask for six team members to standby at the search base to help extricate the subject if he was found. A call out was made and six members responded; they were: Fran McFarland, Stan Kartes, Russ Brinton, Ken Capron, Jeff Sharp and Dave Treber. They met at the Cache at 5:00 A.M. Monday morning and arrived at the search base at 7:00 A.M. After sitting at the base for a few hours in the fog it was decided to move to higher ground above the fog layer. They had just arrived at new base when it was radioed that the subject had been found alive at Packwood Lake by a Forest Ranger.

Mr. White stated that he had been attacked by a mountain lion (?), and had tumbled down a slope and had been knocked unconscious. When he came to, he had followed a drainage to the lake. The team members were released and returned to the Cache at 3:00 P.M.

The immediate effect of adding clothing to the nude body is to trap a certain thickness of virtually dead, body-warmed air from the cooler air that was formerly circulating past. The effectiveness of the clothing will depend upon the rate at which heat passes across the space between the skin and the clothing barrier and through this barrier.

Transfer across the space between skin and clothing depends upon the distance between them and on the rate of air movement within the space. Where clothing touches the skin, as when clothing is pressed against the body by contact with the colder ground or solid objects, by wind or by the hang of the clothing, the transfer of heat will be rapid. Where wet clothing touches the skin, the resultant conduction and evaporation heat loss will be rapid - often at the same rate as immersion heat loss.

Transfer of heat through clothing, itself, may take place in several ways: Through conduction through the fibers, such as metallic fibers in the clothing, nails in shoes, buttons, etc.; through conduction or convection, radiation, evaporation or through the dead air held in the interstices between the fibers of the weave. If water replaces a large part of the interstices, then the heat conductivity of the fabric is greatly increased. Such wetness greatly increases heat loss by evaporation and conduction. This can become the outdoorsman's greatest problem in stormy weather.

The radiation absorption effect of clothing can be a great help in cold environments. Dark clothing absorbs radiant heat from the sun and reflective clothing repels heat. The openings of clothing -- neck, arm and leg cuffs, zipper openings, all contribute to heat loss to some degree, and often allow the greatest amount of heat loss due to the pumping action of warm air next to the skin during body movement.

The type of fabric and the cut of the clothing have much to do with its insulation value, freedom of movement, constriction of blood flow, warm air transfer, water retention, and ventilation of excess body heat generated by muscle action during outdoor exercise.

To the outdoorsman dependent upon the clothes he wears and carries to keep his body warm, dry and sheltered during his travels, the choice of clothing should have the highest priority. Because of weight limitations, weather factors, seasonal conditions and the environment, his clothing must serve many purposes, yet be strong enough to withstand the abuse of the rough, rugged environment.

Call to order: 7:38 p.m.

BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:

Stan Kartes, Larry Crum, Alan Givotosky, Gus Bush, Jim Andrues, Phil Pletcher, Bill Weber, Ken Capron and Fran McFarland

OTHER MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:

Connie Crum, Lee Tegner, Cheryl Wells, Wayne Walls, Kate Roberts.

GUESTS:

Chris Davenport, Cliff Lightfoot, Adam Pope

The September minutes were amended to read that a free listing for TMR will still be in the yellow pages. We will not be purchasing an advertisement.
The minutes were accepted as amended.

TREASURERS REPORT: Larry Crum

• The report was accepted as read.
• Larry mentioned that he received a notice for emissions inspection for the truck. Ken Capron will get the rescue truck inspected for emissions.

OPERATIONS REPORT: Gus Bush

• No report

TRAINING REPORT: Jim Andrues

• The Wednesday USAR training was attended by 31 people, the Saturday by 16.
• November's training is crime scene management.
• We may be changing the schedule for training's for December and January. Please check the Rucksack for details.

EQUIPMENT REPORT: Ken Capron

• Ken purchased the following items for various kits: stethoscope, BP cuff and tan webbing.
• Ken has developed log books for our ropes. He will go over this at the general meeting.

COMMUNICATIONS REPORT: Stan Kartes

• The charger for the new radios is on back order.
• Stan and Larry Crum are tracking down a complete list of members with pagers.

SAFETY & EDUCATION REPORT: Phil Pletcher

• No report

MEMBERSHIP REPORT: Fran McFarland for Chris Berryman

• The following people were voted in at field support:
  Chris Davenport
  Brian McGinty
• Fran reported for Tracy Berryman that the callout committee has started. An additional code on the page to OLs will identify who is doing the call-outs. OLs should see Tracy for any questions.
• Tracy Berryman would like someone to be the Events Coordinator for the Unit and notify her of items that should be on the hotline.

FINANCE REPORT: Bill Weber

• No Report
• Bill will let us know when the cans for the kits come in.

AIR OPERATIONS: Fran McFarland for Jeff Sharp

• Progress is still being made on the continuance of the helicopter program.

OLD BUSINESS:

• Fran reported the brochure is currently being printed and will bring the completed brochures to the November general meeting.
• The Annual Banquet:
  • Banquet members are being called by Fran.
  • Current members are being called by Phil Pletcher. A post card is being sent to former members that Lee identified off a Mountaineers list. Gus is making the post card.
• Fran mentioned the challenge of who will be taking over the management of the kits. She suggested that maybe a committee could handle the process. Everyone is encouraged to think of other resources or people who could take on this very important responsibility.
• Two motions were made and passed outside of the regular board meeting.
  1. On September 30^th, a motion was made and passed by a quorum that we charge only $10 per adult and $5 per child for the banquet; the rest of the cost being subsidized by the Unit.
  2. On October 30^th, a motion was made and passed to sponsor a member to go to NATARS for an amount up to $1000.
  Gus Bush made a motion to include these 2 items in the October minutes. The motion was passed.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Ken Capron and Pepsi have donated a pop machine to the Unit. The machine is at the cache B cost of a can of pop $.25.
• Gus Bush, nominations committee, will have nominations for the secretary position for the November meeting.
• Alan attended an Equine Emergency Rescue workshop.
• Bill Weber reported on the WMRA meeting:
  • He mentioned the importance of having a camera for photos on missions. Bill will try to get us some single-use cameras.
  • Bill also reported on an incident involving another unit and the importance of tending prussiks properly.
• Report Forms for Accidents in American Mountaineering will be available for OLs to fill out and send in.
• There is a new SAR website: www.sarbc.org
• A group WMRA training is set for 9/25 and 9/26 for 1999. Rope rescue will be covered.
• The winter MRA meeting will be held in January in San Diego. Fran made a motion to send Alan and Mike Mixon with expenses paid of up to $1000 the motion was passed.
• Bill Weber brought up that we could use a fire-safe file cabinet for our permanent records. He will look into low cost options for us.
• Bill also mentioned that the Unit has a broken metal detector purchased about 10 years ago. Bill asked if we want to get it fixed. The board decided no.
• Jim Andrues reported that he read in the Mountaineers magazine that some climbing areas in the state may be slated for closures due to budget problems.

Adjourned 9:30

Respectfully submitted,


Fran McFarland, Secretary

The following members attended the Kit party on Nov 4, 1998:

• John Simac
• Shorty Williams
• Jim Andrues
• Ken Capron
• Gus Bush
• Stan Engle
• Bill Weber

They made 86 kits, due to components shortages.

Remember the kit party is 7:30 P.M. the first Wednesday of the month at 2905 Parkway Dr. W. If you need directions call Shorty Williams at 564-0581. We need your help

The following Unit members were elected to the following positions during last month's membership meeting:

• Alan Givotovsky - President
• Fran McFarland - Vice President

With the election of Fran as Vice President this leaves the position of Secretary open. A special election will be held at the December membership meeting to elect a new secretary; the following member has been nominated:

• Connie Crum

If you have any more nominations please contact Gus Bush at 536-8929. Nominations will also be taken from the floor at the December meeting.

©Copyright 1998 Tacoma Mountain Rescue