The Unit was contacted on the 8^th of Feb. for four members trained as crew chiefs for the county's SAR helicopter "Rainier One". The operation was a helo search in Cowlitz County for a 61-year-old male who was last seen taking a walk from his rural farmhouse. He was a brain surgery patient that had gone for a walk in street type clothes only. There were some reports of witnesses sightings a mile from his farmhouse. The helicopter searched a number of drainages less than a mile from the Columbia River and though they spooked a lot of elk, unfortunately found no sign of him. There were ground searchers, dog teams, volunteers, Coast Guard, and our helicopter. The conditions were miserable, heavy rain and high winds with a low cloud ceiling. Flying open doors just above the trees with 35mph winds blowing rain into the copter while bouncing around in the wind made for an interesting flight. The pilots, Hoffman and Dawson did a great job. Jim Andrues, Jeff Sharp, Rob Lutz, and John Miner were the members who responded.

Editors note: most all of the crew chiefs for Rainier One are members of TMRU and a different call-out is made when only the helicopter is requested.

A 20 foot long tube that breaks solid materials into molecular components and then delivers a nutrient mixture, produces acids powerful enough to take the paint off your car, and while doing all this recovers about 10 quarts of water a day. Is this a new invention or just some fantasy device thought up by an overactive imagination. Everyone one of us carries this tube around with us every day and when it works properly it is efficient, effortless and most of all painless.

This tube is called the digestive tract and when it doesn't work properly it can make life miserable. Dishing out all sorts of discomfort such as gas, diarrhea and constipation and sometimes social embarrassment. Of the three upsets to the digestive tract mentioned above the most likely to hit someone in the backcountry is infectious diarrhea..

There are potentially four dangers of drinking water straight from untreated streams or pools in the backcountry: chemical pollutants, protozoa and larger parasites, bacteria and viruses. Infectious diarrhea is caused by a large variety of bacteria and virus and protozoan parasites, of which Giardia Lamblia and Cryptosporidium are the most common found in the backcountry.

The most common way to become infected is to drink Giardia Lamblia a protozoan parasite that infects the digestive tract of most warm blooded animals in the form of a cyst. The ingestion of one or more of these cysts may cause the disease known as Giardiasis. This differs from a bacterial or viral infection where thousands of organisms are need to produce any ill effects. Normally the disease lasts 1 to 2 weeks but chronic cases lasting for months or years have been recorded. Giardia has become widespread among rodents and other small mammals throughout North America and has been introduced into virtually all water sources.

Cryptosporidium parvum, like Giardia is a protozoan parasite that exists in warm blooded animals. Again it takes only a few cysts to cause an infection. In most healthy individuals the disease lasts only 1 or 2 days and it is believed that around 7% of case of diarrhea in the United States are cause by Cryptosporidium. Surveys have shown that it is possible that 80% of the population have had cryptosporidiosis, the disease caused by cryptosporidium.

Methods of purification.

Of course the cheapest and perhaps the oldest method of purifying drinking water is to boil it. Bringing the water to a rolling boil for at least five minutes will kill all of the biological hazards. Though most of the parasites and germs will be long dead before the water reaches the boiling point it is still prudent to boil for five minutes to ensure you got them all.

Another method of water purification is the use of either iodine or chlorine to kill the biological hazards. While still rather inexpensive you must ensure that the water temperature is at least 75°F. You must then let it set for 20-30 minutes at least to ensure that the water is purified. Colder water must sit longer perhaps overnight for cold stream water. It is also advisable to carry some Kool-aid to mask the "medicine taste" left by this treatment method.

Of course the most expensive water treatment to use in the backcountry is a water filter. If you plan on going this route there are a couple of things to bear in mind:

1. Buy a filter that includes an iodine matrix which will kill all the viruses.
   
   
2. A filter that is larger than 0.2 microns will let bacteria through.
   
   
3. While nether giardia or cryptosporidium will prove fatal if you happen to drink some untreated water while in the backcountry, it is still advisable to treat your water by one of the three methods mentioned. That way you don't have to stop climbing or hiking for a couple of weeks to spend it in the bathroom.

In Mountain Rescue normally when we arrive on the scene the subject is usually stable or deceased. As emergency service volunteers, we do need to think about diseases transmitted by bodily fluids that we may come in contact with.

AIDS or as its also known HIV (Human Immunodeficiency virus) has taken center stage as the world's worst disease since the bubonic plague. AIDS is transmitted by three types of bodily fluids Seminal, Vaginal, and Blood. I don't think we'll have to worry about the first two in a mountain rescue situation.

Persons with AIDS occur in three stages:

1. Persons who are infected but have not tested positive. Usually take four to six weeks for the virus to develop enough to be detected.
   
   
2. Persons who have tested positive but show no signs or symptoms of infection. As much as ten years may pass before they start to show clinical signs.
   
   
3. Persons who infected and showing the signs and symptoms of the disease.
   
   
4. Anyone with the Aid's virus regardless of the stage are of concern to the rescuer. If the patient has the virus, he is infectious whether he has symptoms or not.

One aspect of the Aid's virus is that it does not survive long outside the body. It dies very quickly. But the same cannot be said about another disease that really poses more danger to the rescuer than AIDS and that is Hepatitis B.

Hepatitis B is an inflammation of the liver. The death toll is around 300 emergency services or health care providers a year. A recent poll showed that almost two thirds of emergency workers know almost nothing about the disease. It also showed that nearly half of all health related workers were unaware that a vaccine exists to prevent people from becoming infected. The virus is many time more contagious than AIDS. Studies have also shown that it can live outside the body for a couple of weeks even in a dry state.

There is estimated to be 750,000 to 1 million infectious carriers of the virus in the United States. Only 25 percent of that number actually developed chronic active hepatitis. It takes from 28 to 160 days for the symptoms to become apparent after exposure. Sometimes no symptoms appear.

As the numbers show your chance of running into a victim, who is a carrier of the hepatitis B virus in a rescue situation is much greater than that of the AIDS virus.

My purpose in writing this article it not and try to scare you. It is to make you aware that some dangers that we face on a rescue are as not as apparent as a 350ft cliff.

One last note because I don't want to add to any AIDS hysteria. It is a proven fact that AIDS can only be transmitted by some exchange of bodily fluids with and infected individual.

CALL TO ORDER: 19:50 hrs

BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:

Ed Hrivnak, Alan Givotovsky, Chris Berryman, Larry Crum, Pat Lillie, Stan Kartes, Jim Andrues, Jeff Sharp, Mike Mixon, Bill Weber, Gus Bush.

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE:

Ken Capron, Bob Renz, Lee Tegner, Roger Ternes, Russ Brinton, Ken Davies, Wayne Walls, Jeff Sharp, Rob Lutz.
• The December Minutes were accepted as revised.

TREASURERS REPORT: Larry Crum

• The PCSAR dispersal to TMR was added to the Truck Replacement fund.
• Current cost to insure unit drivers is $250 per driver per year; discussion followed about limiting the number of drivers and no action was taken at this time.

OPERATIONS: Gus Bush

• January 11th at Crystal Mountain for missing skier, turnaround at the trailhead.

TRAINING REPORT: Jim Andrues

• Wednesday night class had 30 members in attendance. Class was held at a fire training classroom and favorable comments were made about the change of venue. Seventeen showed for a rainy day class at Snoqualimie Pass.
• Training for those who want to be on the drivers list for the Unit truck is being arranged by Jon Miner, dates TBA

EQUIPMENT: Pat Lillie

• A pulley in our inventory that had bearing problems has been repaired.
• Rob Lutz reported that electrical problems experienced with "Rainier One" during night operations training have been repaired.

COMMUNICATIONS: Stan Kartes

• All Cook Paging pagers will at some point, need to be returned for upgrades. The improvement will decrease group call out time. The return schedule will be announced.
• TMRU is paying for 13 pagers, the pagers will be provided to the Operation Leaders and Call Out Committee members. The other pagers will be distributed to the most active and senior members.

SAFETY AND EDUCATION: Chris Berryman

• The Tacoma Mountaineers have formed a Branch-wide Safety and Risk management committee of which Chirs will be a member.

MEMBERSHIP: Chris Berryman

• Wayne Walls was voted in at Field Support.
• A unit member E-Mail List will be established. If unit members wish their E-Mail addresses listed. call Chris Berryman.

OLD BUSINESS:

• Alan Givotovsky presented more information on load cells and discussion followed regarding the replacement of the Unit's dynamometer.
• Information about lodging and renting an RV for the MRA conference in June was updated.
• Mike Mixon said that the 304th was going to have a helicopter at the conference and we could have "Rainier One" there also. Lack of Pilots was cited as a problem.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Chris Berryman gave the latest MOFA class dates and registration information.
• Gus Bush asked that gear laid out to dry get put away and not left out till the next meeting.
• The TMRU banquet will be held Nov. 27th at the Executive Inn in Fife. Ed Hrivnak is making arrangements.
• Mission Load is down, Ed drafting a letter to SAR managers to advertise our services.
• Contact Alan Givotovsky if you are currently working on a section of the TMRU Book.
• Connie Crum reported on the MRA Winter Conference.
• Mike Mixon reported that accreditation testing may become mandatory.
• GOOD OF THE ORDER:
• Russ Brinton is starting a library of climbing books at the Cache.
• Stan Kartes considering a weekly test page.

ADJOURN: 2130 hrs

Respectfully submitted,


Chris Berryman, Secretary

The following members attended the kit party on Feb 4, 1998:

Shorty Williams Bill Weber John Simac Ed Hrivnak Larry and Connie Crum Christine and Ian Davies Ken Capron Barbara Bird Bob Renz

They made 390 Kits. 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

First, be sure to use snow from the same snowfall. Then, with door block pulled shut, light an oil lamp inside. As its heat melts interior snow, walls wick moisture to the exterior where it ices over. Next, bore a roof hole, and push open the door bloc. Warm air escapes upward . Cold air rushes in to make a thin ice film on the interior wall. Close the door block. That's it. Plenty warm. At sub-zero outside, two of you therein could play cribbage in your underwear.

Excerpted from Trivia by L.M. Boyd, reprinted from page 9 of the Soundlife section of the Feb. 3, 1998 issue of the Tacoma News Tribune.

Purpose: To give unit members specific instruction on rigging rope systems commonly used in rescue work.

When: 7:00 to 9:30 P.M. March 24, 1998

Where: Rescue Cache

What to bring: Bring a note pad and pencil for notes and to diagram systems.

Instructor: Chris Berryman

Attendance: RSVP 581-6614

Note: No previous knowledge of systems required.

©Copyright 1998 Tacoma Mountain Rescue