When volunteers with Arrowsmith Search and Rescue scramble to save a lost hiker, they do so with calm efficiency and professionalism.
That ability doesn’t come without effort however — and many hours of training. The ASAR team was out in force last week with 27 members honing their skills with map and compass.
“Joe Kinch, one of our SAR managers, set up a course with different clues hidden then had teams go along the route to see how many they could see then mark waypoints with compass bearing to each item,” said spokesperson Ken Neden. “Joe had 10 items hidden but the teams also found many others that had been tossed into the woods. The exercise tested how well the teams searched for different types of objects and also how fast they travelled.”
The exercise included several ground search teams along with mountain bike, horse and ATV teams.
Teams were then sent out one at a time by vehicle to search for a person wearing a Project Lifesaver transmitter.
They drove until the signal was picked up then got out of the vehicle and searched on foot where they found an employee in Trees Restaurant wearing the transmitter.
— Submitted by ASAR
