Photo By John Hughel | Oregon Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Mark Carter (left) and Maj. Daniel Russell...... read more read more
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SALEM, Ore. – The rugged majesty of the Pacific Northwest provides for a boundless range of outdoor activities, both for local residences and flocks of travelers eager to get back to nature after two previous summers of pandemic health protocols.
Mountain climbing, windsurfing, and discovering meandering trails along hilly beaches are popular activities to challenge enthusiastic travelers in the region. For most, a day enjoying the natural environment can energize and restores a person’s weathered spirit. But even the best prepared and experienced explorers can find themselves stranded, lost, or injured in vulnerable wilderness areas.
At any given time, there is no shortage of incidents large or small around the state that local Search and Rescue (SAR) teams respond to, often calling on the Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Oregon National Guard for assistance.
“There’s some type of SAR operations in the state every single day,” said Scott Lucas, State of Oregon SAR Coordinator with OEM. “As big as the state is and with so many remote wilderness areas, we typically have close to 1,100 SARs a year.”
Lucas also said that more people are exploring new places they are unfamiliar with, not knowing the area, terrain, and weather conditions, especially during the excessive heat-related injuries this summer. SAR missions also take away resources – including SAR teams, volunteers, gear, and time.
"Know before you go may seem like obvious advice, but it makes a difference when it comes to staying safe,” said Lucas.
Though only a fraction of those cases requires Oregon Army National Guard aviation support, many of the mountain rescues where climbers are severely injured could not be accomplished without helicopter assistance.
“Air rescues are vital for life-threatening injuries,” Lucas explained. “For most mountain rescue situations, the hiker has injuries that prevent them from being moved by rescue climbers, and being exposed to the elements is a critical factor too.”
While coordinating with all 36 counties of Oregon, Lucas said in most cases, requests are generated from local sheriff’s offices that need the additional SAR support assets. The Oregon Emergency Response System process creates an Incident Report Number where federal and state assets can then be directed to the counties requesting support.
As these missions are assigned to the Oregon National Guard, they pass through the Joint Operations Center (JOC) to get the mission launched.
“There have been several high profile rescues recently where we have used Blackhawk helicopters to conduct rescues at Diamond Lake (on Aug. 10) and on Mt. Hood (on July 2) supporting high elevation missions,” Lucas said.
The Army National Guard maintains both HH-60M Blackhawks and UH-72A Lakota’s for search and rescue operations at McNairy Field in Salem, and in special cases, CH-47 Chinooks at the Pendleton Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) can be called upon for assistance.
The state Aviation and Safety officer Col. Brian Houston initially receives a call from Scott Lucas, and the decision is made if the Army can fly the mission. If the mission is a go, then Col. Houston will call Maj. Daniel Russell, Operations Officer at AASF 1 in Salem.
“We support domestic operations so most of the time our full-time staff are the ones that execute the search and rescue missions,” said Russell, describing how the missions are staffed. “The people who go fly the mission are often times our part-time drill status members.”
Russell, a Blackhawk pilot, is ‘dual-hatted,’ working full time as the supervisor of training, and then in his M-day (Guard members who perform weekend drill and not on full-time duty) status as the Battalion S-1, Human Resources Officer for the 2nd Battalion, 641st Aviation Regiment. He will then put the “call out” in the form of a mass text asking for volunteers that are available.
“We don’t always have a full crew that works here during the week so we rely on this list of volunteers,” he said. “Most of the missions we fly are done by our M-day crews.”
By asking for volunteers, Russell can keep a list of ready volunteers sharp and spread the experience across the force. Those crews are made up of service members who are commercial pilots or have jobs working as medical first responders for community hospitals in their civilian jobs. A normal SAR crew will have a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief, and flight paramedic.
“I am actually always very impressed with our ability to respond to something as a primary part-time force – that’s something that most people don’t know because they assume we have a dedicated full-time SAR force.”
In 2022, the Oregon Army National Guard has flown 10 SAR missions, nine of those using the Blackhawks to recover patients. This includes the well-published July 2 rescue at Mt. Hood.
According to Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, the climber lost his ice ax and fell approximately 600-700 feet from the summit ridge to the rocks above the Hot Rocks fumarole and sustained serious injuries. Portland Mountain Rescue and the Crag Rats reached the injured 43-year-old climber from Happy Valley by mid-day, and around 1:00 p.m. the Oregon National Guard Blackhawk arrived. They first dropped off two flight paramedics, who secured him with a litter so they could hoist him into the helicopter for transport to a hospital in Portland.
This was followed by another SAR helicopter mission on Aug. 10, 2022, successfully rescuing an injured hiker at Diamond Lake, Oregon. Douglas County (SAR) requested air assets to assist in the search for a 37-year-old female hiker who suffered a broken ankle and was dehydrated. In both rescues, the hoist system on the Blackhawk was critical, as well as the experience of the crew to work in demanding terrains.
Though many of the rescues come in the warm weather months, the mission is year-round.
“It’s not just during the spring and summer,” said Sgt. 1st Class Mark Carter, the senior crew chief working at AASF 1 in Salem. “We have snowmobilers and hunters that get lost and loggers who can get pinned down that we need to recover.”
The unit keeps two aircraft ready at all times and Carter helps the crews coming in with having their gear ready to go.
“I spent 12 years on active duty before joining the National Guard in 2002, but we spend more time doing our jobs in the Guard because of these types of missions,” Carter said. "It’s what I do -- and I do it because of the mission.”
With these types of missions, Russell is quick to point out there are many unsung heroes that work behind the scenes. This includes Guard members working in communications and support.
“They answer the radios, track and relay communication. This includes making calls to the hospitals to make sure they know we’re coming,” said Russell. “Whenever we do these missions, I get the flight crews to come in but I also get them [support team] to come in as well…their just not on the helicopter.”
With so many moving pieces, both in the air and on the ground, it takes a total team approach to help search, rescue, recover and transport those who have become lost or injured throughout the region’s rugged, scenic landscapes.
“At the end of the day, people love being in the unit because it’s one of the reasons we joined and we get to do it,” said Russell. “Literally, we’re saving lives – it doesn’t get any better than that.”
| Date Taken: | 08.30.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.30.2022 19:18 |
| Story ID: | 428350 |
| Location: | SALEM, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 709 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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