Alpine searchers find time to practice

Alpine's beautiful meadows, streams and majestic mountains beckon the hiker, the angler and others to enjoy the outdoors. Winter brings the cross country skier, the snowshoer and snowmobiler. But mishaps do occur and the county's search and rescue team is ever alert to find and bring back the lost or injured as quickly and as safely as possible.

A practice session of the Alpine County Search and Rescue volunteers was held Jan. 31 near the parking section off Highway 88 adjacent to Blue Lakes Road.

The event provided an opportunity to observe how the team worked and the training of its less experienced members. However, as the reader shall shortly see, what was planned as a practice event turned out to be a real rescue.

Blue Lakes Road was closed because of the snow that surrounds the area.

Alpine and Douglas County volunteers work together, and later in the day Douglas County rescue vehicles joined those already there that included Alpine's snowmobiles, a snow cat " a vehicle with treads like on an army tank, and a covered trailer for transporting injured.

A little later Alpine's heavy rescue vehicle, driven by Paul Nielsen of Mesa Vista arrived. Its contents include massive cutting implements for extricating people from damaged vehicles as well as other rescue tools and large fire extinguishers.

It was a clear, beautiful day, not too cold, just perfect for the snowmobilers whose parked vans and trucks with trailers lined both sides of the parking area. The license plates revealed that almost all were from Nevada, with most probably from Douglas County.

The planned search and rescue session began with Alpine Deputy Sheriff Tom Minder who is in charge of the Alpine unit gathering together the first arrivals, Matt Star, Ryan Brown, George Christensen and Lance Lopez, all of Gardnerville. Minder discussed the plans for the day that included Lopez training volunteers to use their beacon device to take them to a buried mannequin and then to use long probes to locate it.

Shortly afterward Alpine volunteers Lynn and Janice Doyal of Alpine Village arrived. Both are certified emergency medical technicians and Lynn was in charge of the county's EMTs for many years. He is also a highly experienced search and rescue volunteer and explained to me the procedures to locate someone, the danger of avalanches and how to survive if caught in one, and the importance of carrying equipment such as a beacon and snow shovel when in snow country.

But suddenly there was a report that a snowmobiler had crashed into a tree and that blood was spurting from his leg, apparently from an artery. Immediately the volunteers were mobilized, mounted their snowmobiles and sped to the crash site. One of the riders was Stacy James whom I had met previously.

The report was that the victim was about a mile away and was quickly located with a tourniquet placed on his leg to stop the bleeding. That was replaced with a pressure bandage, and as it was applied a small piece of tree bark fell out of the wound.

The injured rider was transported back to the parking area, and although offered to have an ambulance or helicopter take him to a hospital he decided to seek medical care on his own. In any event, hats off to the search and rescue volunteers from Alpine and those from Douglas County.

Even though accidents do happen, most visitors and residents take care not to get lost or injured. Yet the scenic vistas may induce a sense of freedom that leads some to avoid necessary precautions such as notifying friends or relatives of where they plan to go and trekking through the wilderness alone.

The seasoned outdoor person ventures into unfamiliar places with a map, compass canteen or other items to insure a safe trip. And winter conditions call for special equipment that some are not aware of or neglect. Especially important is a safety kit that includes a beacon that directs rescuers to the person's location and a snow shovel.

n Irving Krauss is an Alpine County resident.