Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011 Year End Summary

2011 Year End Summary:

In 2011 BAMRU participated in 28 missions, logged 2352 human-hours on missions , and 6120 human-hours  (1769 more than last year!) on training, in addition to countless hours which each member logged to enhance personal skills, knowledge, and abilities. We also saw seven membership promotions and reluctantly but proudly let other members go to pursue their dreams.

The team was also able to make a good dent in our fundraising goals thanks to Cal Hoagland and the fundraising committee. We hope to continue this trend in 2012 in order to maintain our readiness which relies on team equipment and skills for our members.  If you would like to help us in this endeavor, you can donate here:  http://www.bamru.info/donate 


Looking forward to a safe and happy 2012!   





Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Fall Training Summary

It's been a busy fall for the Bamruvians.

We kicked off the season of change with a succesful North Peak summit in September; the final in a series of summer alpine trainings which brought us to Mt. Abbot, Laurel and Conness.

In October, we held our medical training in Redwood City. This two day course was designed for SAR volunteers and presented by Tom Lass (Firefighter Paramedic) and Dr. John Lissoway of Stanford.  We covered patient care issues encountered in outdoor and high altitude emergencies, basic patient assessment, triage in the wilderness, wilderness emergency scenarios and use of various search and rescue equipment. 


For November's training we found ourselves hanging over a rocky ledge in a Berekeley park as we reviewed and refined skills from triangulating to building and running technical rope hauling systems.  Our skills training day  is an opportunity for team and field members to get important, hands on skills practice in any area.


This past weekend, we took the opportunity to stay local once again before the snow hits, and we practiced setting up the field antenna with our beloved truck "Baby Blue".  The field antenna can be set up to extend well above the height of the truck and provides us with a better radio range for vital communications on searches.

This month, members of BAMRU will be digging out their snowshoes, crampons and ice axes as we say goodbye to the fall and prepare for the winter season.  This winter our team will be readying ourselves for participation in the Mountain Rescue Association's snow and ice re-cert on March 3rd, 2012 in June Lake.