Search and rescue honors team

Staff Reports

The Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team is a nonprofit organization of volunteers dedicated to saving lives. They do searches and rescues at any time, in any weather, for as long as it takes, for free. Each year the team honors members for their individual excellence and public service, and two awards are given by the team to honor members who have excelled.

The team's main honor for achievement is the Pete Schoerner Rescue Member of the Year award, named in memory of a teammate killed in an ice-climbing accident in 1996.

The Pete Schoerner Rescue Member of the Year for 2008 is Marie Pavlovsky, who serves as a member on the board of directors, as team secretary, and participated in 41 team events, including 16 field operations in 2008. Since 2007, Pavlovsky has served the county on 106 team events, including 24 rescues and searches. She has a variety of mountaineering skills and is one of the team's key players in all types of missions.

The team honors one candidate member each year with the Rick Mosher Candidate Member of the Year award, named in honor of Rick Mosher who was the only team member to have died in the line of duty. He was killed while searching in a small airplane that crashed during an operation on August 15, 1979.

This year the team selected Carole Schilz as the Rick Mosher Candidate Member of the Year. Schilz has been very active and faithful in both her training and in rescue operations, and has participated in 79 team events, including 18 operations since she began her training.

New members in training are called candidate members and must undergo training, practice and testing in 18 skill categories before being considered for advancement to rescue member. Examples of these skills include first aid and victim care, tracking, technical rescue, mountain navigation, helicopter operations, and skill with electronic aids such as computers, radios, avalanche transceivers, and GPS receivers. Completion of all requirements takes dedication and faithfulness for a period that is typically a year or more.