Thankfully, search and rescue call outs don't always come pouring in.  When we aren't training or participating in an operation, BAMRU team members can be found volunteering at events all over our local community.  Here are some of the things we've been up to this fall. 

Urban Shield:
Over the weekend of October 15 - 17, BAMRU was requested to provide staff at the annual Urban Shield SWAT exercise. During the weekend, SWAT teams from around the world converged on the Bay Area to compete, with each team not sleeping for more than a few hours the entire weekend and performing tasks from rappelling off the Bay Bridge to taking a building back from terrorists.  Over 75 law enforcement  agencies took part in one form or another and over 3,000 persons were involved in the event as participants, role players, or volunteers.  The exercise was operated by the Alameda County Sheriff, with BAMRU operating on behalf of the San Mateo County Sheriff.

We extend our thanks and congratulations to the teams who participated and look forward to helping with other trainings in the future.

Halfmoon Bay Pumpkin Festival:
The Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Fest is the biggest coastside art & music festival of the year; the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office (and BAMRU) provided traffic control and crowd services.  A BAMRU team memebr was on site to help with logistics, crowd control and traffic control at several locations, and returned three lost children to their mothers.

Hug-a-Tree:
Hug-a-tree is a community outreach program for which we periodically perform presentations on behalf of the Sheriff's Office. The program teaches kids (and parents) some basic and vital survival principles to use if they ever get lost.  We have performed this for schools, youth groups, Boy & Girl Scouts, friends and family groups. It promotes good practices for kids (and adults) when going into the back country and can have applications for urban environments as well.

Coming up- Storm Watch:
The rainy season is upon us.  Although we welcome the needed water, sometimes we get too much of a good thing.  When the weather results in dangerous conditions you can expect to see BAMRU members out in the community assisting the San Mateo County Sheriff's office with their Storm Watch program.  'Storm Watch' is an emergency response procedure that the San Mateo Sheriff's Office uses for the Santa Cruz mountains and San Mateo coast.

MRA Recertification

Last weekend, BAMRU completed the annual Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) recertification, this year held near Lone Pine, CA.

The Lone Pine Recert focused on technical rock rescue. Teams were engaged in scenarios involving an injured climber who was immobile in a high-angle environment. Once the subject was located, teams were expected to administer appropriate medical treatment, then extricate and transport the subject back to a command post.

On all accounts, the event was a huge success. BAMRU attended the event on the heels of a number of recent mutual aid responses across the state.

National Award for Chang

BAMRU proudly congratulates John Chang on his award for Outstanding Contribution to the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA). John received the award Friday at the 2010 MRA Spring Conference in Juneau, Alaska. He was presented the award by the President of the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), Dan Hourihan. John's list of accomplishments and contributions are truly outstanding. Humble as he is, John has earned this recognition for all he has done for BAMRU and the MRA.

Congratulations John!

MRA Recertification at Malibu

These past couple weeks, BAMRU has focused on the annual Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) Recertification, this year held on March 6th at Malibu Creek State Park in Malibu, Ca. The Malibu Recert concerned the areas of tracking, ELT's, medical, grid search technique, and incident command execution.  On all accounts, the event was a huge success; BAMRU attended the event on the heels of the mutual aid response to locate a missing snowshoe'er in the Castle Peak area near Truckee, Ca.



In the week preceding the recert, BAMRU held its refresher courses at the Monte Bello and Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserves, in San Mateo County. The extremely foggy weather provided real world conditions to practice locating ELT's. Here are some pictures from the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve:



BAMRU sends special thanks to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Communications Unit. Six of their top-notch personnel, along with their state-of-the-art communications van, joined us at the MRA recert and the training. BAMRU is grateful for their participation and support.

Chang recognized by MRA

BAMRU's John Chang was recognized by the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) with a nice feature article its October Newsletter.

Congrats John!!