Be taught to Search: Superior Search and Rescue Trains with New Challenge Lifesaver Tools | Information, sports activities, jobs

Nick Wilson / Daily Mining Gazette Training Officer Patrick Diedrich demonstrates the use of a Project Lifesaver radio frequency receiver for superior search and rescue volunteers.

HOUGHTON – On a damp November evening, Superior Search and Rescue volunteers gathered in the Michigan Tech Trails parking lot for a Project Lifesaver training exercise.

Project Lifesaver is a program designed to reduce the time it takes to find a missing person “in danger” Individually. The program provides radio frequency (RF) transmitters to people who are prone to hiking, including people with cognitive disorders such as autism, Down syndrome, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Finding a missing person can take hours or even days, but with Project Lifesaver technology, the average rescue time is only 30 minutes. Project Lifesaver has already helped rescue over 3,800 people, according to the organization’s website.

The ability to quickly find a missing person can literally save lives, especially in the upper peninsula where weather conditions can be harsh and temperatures are often below freezing.

“The reason we do this is because there have been incidents of missing people with cognitive difficulties, particularly in our region.” said Superior Search and Rescue President Darian Reed. “After some of those incidents, and especially after finding 17-year-old Cameron Besonen in Ontonagon, this was something we really had to do.”

In April, several law enforcement agencies and hundreds of volunteers conducted a multi-day search for Besonen, an autistic teenager who disappeared from his family home near Paulding, Ontonagon County. A heroic search ended in tragedy when his body was discovered three days later.

After this tragedy and other missing situations, the local police decided they needed better preparation.

“The sheriffs of Houghton, Keweenaw, Ontonagon, and Baraga Counties have partnered with Superior Search and Rescue.” Reed explains. “We had submitted a grant to Portage Health and they funded the project.”

The Portage Health Foundation grant will fund broadcasters for 50 families who have a member with a cognitive impairment. Then, if someone goes missing, the four sheriff’s departments and Superior Search and Rescue can use special receivers to track the radio signal from the transmitter and locate the missing person.

Superior Search and Rescue is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit emergency organization based in Houghton. The organization is fully supported by grants and public donations and is staffed exclusively with trained volunteers. The organization is deploying search and rescue ashore assistance at the request of law enforcement agencies.

On Thursday evening, the group of 10 to 12 volunteers put on fluorescent safety vests and listened as training manager Patrick Diedrich explained the new equipment.

“The radio transmitter has a certain frequency. In this way, the receivers can be programmed in such a way that they find the specific frequency and localize it precisely. “ Diedrich explained.

“It looks like a Ghostbusters gun with an antenna array.” he continued as he showed the phone to the volunteers. “It’s a directional antenna, and if you point it, the transmitter will be where you can get the strongest signal.”

Diedrich also provided information on Alzheimer’s, autism and Down syndrome so that volunteers are better prepared to interact with people with these disorders during a search and rescue situation.

After the briefing, volunteers practiced with the receivers to locate hidden transmitters. They marched into the dark forest, searched back and forth with the receivers and followed the beeping noises that the devices were sending out. As they neared the hidden transmitter, the receivers beeped louder. After a few minutes, the volunteers found a Ziploc bag with the transmitter, a small device that can be worn like a wristwatch.

In a relatively flat area, the receiver can receive the signal of a transmitter from a distance of one mile. In the hilly terrain around Houghton and Hancock, the signal doesn’t go that far, but the receivers are still effective at quickly locating transmitters.

“I was quite surprised when we learned how to use this program.” Diedrich said, describing a previous training exercise he had participated in with local law enforcement agencies in Houghton and Hancock. “One of the MPs picked up a transmitter and went and we had to mobilize and find them. With us, the search did not take longer than 30 minutes, and that was also because they tried to be sneaky. “

Diedrich also said these receivers could be airborne by the Civil Air Patrol, a partner of Superior Search and Rescue. In the air, a receiver can pick up a transmitter signal from a distance of five to seven miles.

After finding the first transmitter, the volunteers regrouped and tuned their receivers to a different radio frequency before digging deeper into the network of trails in search of a second transmitter.

They were not impressed by the cold and lack of sunlight.

“We train in any weather” said Reed. “A missing person can be searched at any time. Whether it is raining or snowing or even a beautiful sunny day. “

Reed said he anticipates local law enforcement will start distributing the bracelets within the next month or two. Families interested in an RF transmitter should contact their local sheriff’s department or visit phfgive.org/projectlifesaver.

Individuals interested in volunteering with Superior Search and Rescue can apply on the organization’s website, superiorsar.org. Donations to support Superior Search and Rescue can be made through the Portage Health Foundation.

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