Training Weekend and Search

Always a good time when Haywood SAR and RAT-SAR get together for a little bit of mountain training. This training weekend turned into a real mission when we all got woke up in our tents at 1 AM to assist with a missing person search in the southern part of the state.

ALEA Helicopter Training

Training day with ALEA Aviation, NW Alabama K9, Lawrence County Multi-Agency Search, and Rescue and RAT-SAR. K9/Handler lifts and patient extraction training from the state’s rescue Huey.

NCEM MSAR Awareness Course – January 8-10

RAT-SAR had a few students in the 2021 North Carolina Emergency Management MSAR (Mountain Search and Rescue) course. The weather was perfect with plenty of snow and cold air to expose the students to the rigors of working in cold, mountainous conditions.

SARTECH Certifications

RAT-SAR would like to congratulate the Lawrence County (AL) and Florence PD (AL) members (as well as a few RAT-SAR members) who passed their NASAR SARTECH II certification testing and evaluations this past weekend. Their respective agencies and the state of Alabama have gained a few more valuable resources. Good job all!

Search Dog Training

A rainy day training session yesterday with the Huntsville Search Dog Unit working their live find and human remains dogs. Great team and good training. Look forward to working with them in the future.

Double Search

On Sunday, December 6 members of RAT-SAR and Lawrence County Multi-Agency Search and Rescue responded to two separate searches in the Sipsey Wilderness. Both incidents were resolved with the missing subjects being led out of the forest and back to the trailheads.

 

FUNSAR Field Exercises

Another group of future NASAR sar technicians completed the Fundamentals of Search and Rescue course this past weekend in Lawrence County, AL. It’s truly an honor for RAT-SAR to train and network with these fine folks willing to volunteer their time in service of others.

Fundamentals of Search and Rescue

Several search and rescue teams in Alabama had members present for the first weekend of the NASAR Fundamentals of Search and Rescue (FUNSAR) course taught by RAT-SAR NASAR instructors. RAT-SAR would like to thank Lawrence County EMA for the use of their EOC. Lawrence County Alabama continues to go above and beyond in their support of search and rescue education and operations.

 

A week of search and rescue

4 straight days of search and rescue operations for the RAT-SAR team. Monday and Tuesday in North Carolina on the Seger Search and then Wednesday night and Thursday in the Bankhead National Forest searching for two women who became lost along the Lawrence/Winston county line. Again, can’t say enough good things about the teams we have worked with this week. With RAT-SAR being a responding agency for Lawrence County Alabama Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency SAR team, it’s great to be part of the “bigger picture” when it comes to working with various agencies on operations – all with a common goal of saving lives. Special thanks to ALEA Aviation, Colbert County NW search dog, Huntsville K9 Search, and of course all the fine folks with Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office for another successful mission in the Bankhead Forest! Also a huge thanks to Smokey C’s Bar-B-Que & Wings for feeding all the rescuers today!