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Goofy Footer

Who Pays For A Backcountry Rescue

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Good video from The Hiking Guy with sound, general info. Always check & research your local and intended area for current info prior to travel. Ride, recreate and dualsport at your own risk.

 

 

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Thank You Goofy Footer,   Time well spent.

I have my InReach with me whenever I am out of cell service. Easy to Text using Bluetooth with your phone .

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As your local SDSO SAR member, I approve of this message.

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On 3/19/2023 at 9:12 PM, Oracle said:

As your local SDSO SAR member, I approve of this message.

Can you explain for members the process of how to request a SAR Activation and the potential reflex time of resources? Even as simple as who to call.

It is important information for people’s timelines when making the critical decision to ask for help.

 

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Wow that is a loaded question it really has a huge dependency on the SAR in the area where it is requested.
Yucaipa back in the day has a very well staffed and organized volunteer SAR program and they were able to respond same day to events that took place in Big Bear and other areas I would say within a 100 mile radius of Yucaipa.

In Death Valley it can be hours before you would get help to arrive because there are only a few rangers that patrol the area and depending on the service they might send out a ranger, or a sheriff it is hard to say.

This is my personal account of the one time I uses the SPOS SOS feature.

Wife went down and lost consciousness on the dirt road that takes you the back way into Ballarat from Panamint springs.
I hit the button, and did a quick assessment, knowing where we were I decided since she came too but was disoriented I knew I had an hour at most to get her to the hospital that is in Ridgecrest.  I was going to turn her into a backpack and take her there on my bike, leaving her's behind. At that moment a jeep shows up, I explain the situation and they agreed to take her to the pavement, in the amount of time it took them to get to pavement i rode back to panamint and got the truck and met them at the road, they waiting at most a few moments. 
On the drive too the hospital I got a call from Spot on the cell phone, they did not send any help because they were trying to get ahold of me first.
That should tell you something.

I told them I was already enroute and to stop any actions on their part, since they did not start anything nothing needed to be stopped.

So it seems a lot depends on where, who gets the call etc..
This is where the 2 way communication ones have an advantage.

As far as costs go, with the SPOT insurance if they issue the call then you are covered if someone else gets to you first it may not cover you, so it makes sense to have your own coverage somehow via an umbrella policy rather that depend on just the one for coverage. That's if your the type that spends a LOT of time in those kinds of stations that put you at high risk.

 

Example

Edited by DSM8

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10 minutes ago, DSM8 said:

Wow that is a loaded question it really has a huge dependency on the SAR in the area where it is requested.
Yucaipa back in the day has a very well staffed and organized volunteer SAR program and they were able to respond same day to events that took place in Big Bear and other areas I would say within a 100 mile radius of Yucaipa. 

In Death Valley it can be hours before you would get help to arrive because there are only a few rangers that patrol the area and depending on the service they might send out a ranger, or a sheriff it is hard to say. 

This is my personal account of the one time I uses the SPOS SOS feature. 

Wife went down and lost consciousness on the dirt road that takes you the back way into Ballarat from Panamint springs.
I hit the button, and did a quick assessment, knowing where we were I decided since she came too but was disoriented I knew I had an hour at most to get her to the hospital that is in Ridgecrest.  I was going to turn her into a backpack and take her there on my bike, leaving her's behind. At that moment a jeep shows up, I explain the situation and they agreed to take her to the pavement, in the amount of time it took them to get to pavement i rode back to panamint and got the truck and met them at the road, they waiting at most a few moments. 
On the drive too the hospital I got a call from Spot on the cell phone, they did not send any help because they were trying to get ahold of me first.
That should tell you something.

I told them I was already enroute and to stop any actions on their part, since they did not start anything nothing needed to be stopped.

So it seems a lot depends on where, who gets the call etc..
This is where the 2 way communication ones have an advantage.

Good info and thanks for sharing your experience with the board! I'm glad things worked out for you both.

To confirm, you're saying that you activated your SPOT at the time of the crash. Then you rode Indian Ranch Road to Trona Wildrose to Panamint Springs, got in your truck, went back to the Indian Ranch Road turnoff to meet the jeep THEN.. SPOT / GEOS called you?

 

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11 minutes ago, Goofy Footer said:

Good info and thanks for sharing your experience with the board! I'm glad things worked out for you both.

To confirm, you're saying that you activated your SPOT at the time of the crash. Then you rode Indian Ranch Road to Trona Wildrose to Panamint Springs, got in your truck, went back to the Indian Ranch Road turnoff to meet the jeep THEN.. SPOT / GEOS called you?

 

Yes they call about 40 minutes after I had activated the SOS button, might of been the first chance I had reception or ???

 

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55 minutes ago, Goofy Footer said:

Can you explain for members the process of how to request a SAR Activation and the potential reflex time of resources? Even as simple as who to call.

It is important information for people’s timelines when making the critical decision to ask for help.

 

Sure. First, let's be clear about one thing. Activating your Spot or Inreach, is not the same thing as activating SAR. To keep it simple, Inreach and Spot will activate a response to your emergency in the form of law enforcement and medical services, via GEOS (then forward to 911). Since Spot and Inreach know exactly where you are at, it has nothing to do with Search and Rescue (SAR). With that said, I suppose a Spot activation could turn into a SAR mission at some point if the first responders were unable to locate the person who activated their device. 

Now, as far as San Diego is concerned, and most other areas I'm aware of, a SAR mission will be initiated after several key members have assessed the situation and determined a SAR call-out is warranted. It will almost always start with a call to law enforcement. Usually in response to a missing person obviously (but there are other missions we handle). The reporting party will provide details to the responding officers/deputies. The deputies will advise a supervisor. The supervisor will determine if a call to the SAR coordinator is warranted. The SAR coordinator will then assess the information and make a final determination if there will be a SAR call-out, and if so, which resources. We have several different assignment groups. Not all will be sent all the time. 

Once SAR has been activated, team members will start showing up within about an hour anywhere in SD. The team members on the scene will start collecting pertinent information and establishing a place to set up a command post. Resources like the actual command post might take up to two hours to arrive. A supervisor will put together a search plan and start sending out teams. 

So, to summarize, let's say you are out in the desert and riding with a group of friends. One person goes missing. You get to the point where you need to call for help. Start by calling 911. The deputies or officers that arrive on the scene will assess the situation and make a decision on whether or not to start the SAR process.

Anyone have any questions about San Diego Sheriff's Department SAR, let me know. 

BTW, we do have a dual sport response team, which I am a member of. I also am field certified for searches and a member of the motorized unit, which provides transportation to search teams in remote areas via 4x4 vehicles. 

Edited by Oracle
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2 minutes ago, Oracle said:

Sure. First, let's be clear about one thing. Activating your Spot or Inreach, is not the same thing as activating SAR. To keep it simple, Inreach and Spot will activate a response to your emergency in the form of law enforcement and medical services, via GEOS (then forward to 911). Since Spot and Inreach know exactly where you are at, it has nothing to do with Search and Rescue (SAR). With that said, I suppose a Spot activation could turn into a SAR mission at some point if the first responders were unable to locate the person who activated their device. 

Now, as far as San Diego is concerned, and most other areas I'm aware of, a SAR mission will be initiated after several key members have assessed the situation and determined a SAR call-out is warranted. It will almost always start with a call to law enforcement. Usually in response to a missing person obviously (but there are other missions we handle). The reporting party will provide details to the responding officers/deputies. The deputies will advise a supervisor. The supervisor will determine if a call to the SAR coordinator is warranted. The SAR coordinator will then assess the information and make a final determination if there will be a SAR call-out, and if so, which resources. We have several different assignment groups. Not all will be sent all the time. 

Once SAR has been activated, team members will start showing up within about an hour anywhere in SD. The team members on the scene will start collecting pertinent information and establishing a place to set up a command post. Resources like the actual command post might take up to two hours to arrive. A supervisor will put together a search plan and start sending out teams. 

So, to summarize, let's say you are out in the desert and riding with a group of friends. One person goes missing. You get to the point where you need to call for help. Start by calling 911. The deputies or officers that arrive on the scene will assess the situation and make a decision on whether or not to start the SAR process.

Anyone have any questions about San Diego Sheriff's Department SAR, let me know. 

This is a much better explanation of the process flow, mine was much more myopic in regards to just SAR.

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My helicopter ride last year from Ocotillo Wells to UCSD Hillcrest cost me nothing.   Medicare and a supplemental policy paid the $18K bill.  Getting old has some privilege's. 

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