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Search and Rescue Volunteers
By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Wednesday, April 10th, 2013
 Ventura County Sheriff's Department Search and rescue volunteers have had a very busy week assisting in the search for two lost hikers in the Cleveland National Forest in Orange County, searching for two at-risk missing teens in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, and assisting with evacuations of residents in the path of a fast-moving brush fire in Fillmore. Ventura County Sheriff’s SAR volunteers were on their way to assist personnel in Orange County late Wednesday in response to a mutual aid request by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Ventura County SAR members assigned to a mixed search team were among the first to hear Kendall Jack’s cries for help and locate her in the rugged area of Trabuco Canyon. At the same time, other SAR members were called to Wildwood Regional Park to search for two missing teenagers, who were possibly suicidal. The Sheriff’s Office has seven SAR teams that respond to a variety of calls throughout the county and the region. Ventura County SAR consists of three mountain rescue teams, a dive team, a K-9 team, a medical team, and the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. They are kept busy with lost or injured hikers in the backcountry, which encompasses most of the geographic area of Ventura County. The SAR teams are made up of volunteers who participate in a variety of intensive training, including mountain rescue operations, emergency medicine, survival techniques, and swift water rescue. “Without our search-and-rescue teams, our ability to save lives in remote areas would be seriously diminished,” said Sheriff Geoff Dean. “The contribution of the SAR teams and all our volunteers cannot be overstated,” Dean said, “and they do it all for free.” Our volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds, and all have career and family commitments. However, when the phone rings, they drop everything to save the life of a stranger. For more information about the SAR program, visit our website at www.VCSD.org. Nature of Incident: Search and Rescue Volunteers |
