JK43

Not a jk but my old 05 rubicon... with flashy lights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWi1hJ0XC68

JeepinJer

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked out their website but they don't have good coverage here in West Michigan. Many counties that our members live in aren't covered at all.

Inko

Hey from Canada! I am a member of our local SAR team. Our SAR team is not allowed to use personal vehicles for calls. :( as per our local SOP with the RCMP. Even though half of our members drive JK's lol. And none of our vehicles are actual ambulances so we cannot do patient transport, we do have a wheeled litter for off road transport however.

With all you guys and girls whats the average length of your calls and how many times a year are you utilized for searches?

www.tsrgp.org (it is being updated)

mattyhfd

are there any "mods" for stuff like this?? im a fireman, a tactical medic, huge outdoors man.... any mods or specific layouts u guys have ur rugs?

JeepinJer

I have been a volunteer in West Michigan Search And Rescue for a little over ten years now. I've noticed we go in cycles. Some years we get called out once a month, some years it's twice a year. Just depends on if there are victims and if law enforcement decides they need us. As for duration of a single incident, it varies also. I've arrived on scene, get out of the Jeep and the person is found or just shows up. A couple searches I've been called out at dark and we are out all night and all the next day before we are finished. I've also been on searches that are known to be a recovery situation that have lasted a few days.
We also train at least once a month. During those years with very few call outs, makes it difficult to keep volunteer members active in the group because they come in with the perception that we are called out constantly. In one way it works out because it naturally weeds out those people that are there just for "the thrill". Luckily we have a great core group of people that are there primarily for the victims and there families. Sure there is adventure and thrills and cool stuff like all the equipment and Jeeps and helicopters and dogs, but there is nothing like that feeling when your team is able to safely find and return that person back to their loved ones!

http://www.wmsar.org/

JeepinJer

I've been trying to build up my JKU to be the most capable it can be, BUT, keep reliability, safety, and some form of a budget in mind. It's my only vehicle so it needs to be able to drive 23 miles one way to work or go to the grocery store on one end of the spectrum, and on the other end it needs to be able to navigate trails for hunting, searches, or just fun on sunny 90 degree days to blizzard condition 10 degree days pulling my 16 foot aluminum jet jon boat.

I've added:
cb for trail rides
mobile ham radio for searches
lights front and rear, soon, some on the sides
tool box
roof racks for kayaks
2.5" lift and a little larger tires
swaybar disconnects
gps mounts for a regular car gps and one for my handheld gps
recovery gear
air compressor
shovel
flashlights, first aid kit, snack bars, a couple water bottles, firestarters
winter I keep a blanket extra hat, gloves, snow pants, jacket, socks and boots, hand warmers, etc
need to add fire extinguisher

Check out previous posts for other setups or mods

PoorDad

Our S&R team handles between 40 to 60 call outs per year. Most calls last for a few hours, but there have been some that have lasted days. They are also occasionally called to assist one of the other 7 teams in LA County, as well as for searches out of the county when requested.

Most of the time, the victim's are removed by our rescue helicopter, Air Rescue 5. When they are not available (usually because of weather) they are carried or wheeled out on a Stokes liter to an ambulance, or, if they can walk, escorted out under their own power.

Here is a cheesy video and a few links! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-XNFc-YmME&feature=player_embedded altadenarescue.blogspot.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altadena_Mountain_Rescue
altadena.patch.com/articles/highest-volume-of-altadena-search-and-rescue-calls-appear-to-be-at-eaton-canyon

SmokeShowin

I know this is an old thread, but wanted to add something. As far as notifying members, something you may want to look into is www.iamresponding.com

We just learned how to use it for dispatching our county tech rescue teams. From what I hear, it's a bit expensive. But it works great.

H00LIGAN

Looks like you've got some work to do today. We (Team Rubicon) are on the ground making resource assessments in DFW right now.

We use social media quite a bit. Almost everyone is using a smart phone, so they get instant notification through email, text, facebook, twitter and G+. Yeah, they get multiple notifications, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

JeepinJer

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check that out. We have been utilizing something similar called Citywatch. It works as well as emails (not completely reliable). Still have the old phone tree going, also. We also have found using things like groups in Facebook we can quickly send out messages to everyone. We even have a closed Facebook group for any person that is in a recognized SAR group in Michigan. It is letting us do some networking and also if one group needs extra resources, it can be a quick way to alert everyone.