Search & Rescue
Members of the Albany Volunteer Fire Department hosted a Ground Search and Rescue I (GSAR-I) class in Albany last Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2, which was attended by 20 volunteer firemen from Albany, Eastland, Hubbard Creek, Coke County, and Hamby fire departments.
“The certifications and curriculum are through Rescue Training International,,” said local fire chief Kyle Tischler.
The class was taught by 2Js Rescue Training instructors Joe Ringnald and Joel Viertel. Viertel is a member of the Albany VFD.
A portion of the instruction was conducted in the training classroom at the local fire station, but the majority of the time was spent in the field.
“Art Viertel let us use his place,” said Tischler. “I don’t know how big it is, but it felt like we covered over 1,000 acres.”
The instructors had planted various clues, including things like pieces of clothing, tracks, and bones in the area for the class members to find as they conducted the searches.
“Occasionally the instructors would hide themselves, and we’d have to find them,” Tischler added. “Or they would tap one of us, and get us to hide.”
Tischler explained that fire departments always complete a personnel accountability report (PAR) whenever they are engaged in any kind of action to make sure that no team member(s) are left behind.
“We would do a PAR, realize that someone was not accounted for, and have to go and find them,” Tischler said. “I’ve been doing training like this for years, and even I learned some new things. It was a weekend of very intensive training.”
Topics covered included safety concerns, hazardous materials, medical aspects to consider for both victims and rescuers, information gathering, organization, communication, navigation using various methods, trail marking, tracking, sign reading, evidence and clue marking, search patterns, and several additional topics.
“This group of students learned a lot,” said the fire chief. “They were pumped up the whole time, even when it was raining, and our glasses were fogging up. They are now trained and certified in Ground Search and Rescue and will be willing and able to set up and conduct searches in their respective communities.”
