News Release from: Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office

MEDIA OPPORTUNITY:

Northwest SARCon search-and-rescue conference returns to Mt. Hood this week

Posted: Oct. 10, 2011, 5:10 p.m.

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This Thursday-Sunday (Oct. 13-16), search-and-rescue workers will once again converge on The Resort at the Mountain in Welches for Northwest SARCon ( http://nwsarcon.com/ ).

During this four-day gathering in the shadow of Mt. Hood -- America's most-climbed mountain -- internationally renowned experts lead field and classroom exercises covering the latest advances in search and rescue, including: water searches, wilderness and high-angle rescue, K-9 searches, communications technology, body identification and recovery and much more. The event is hosted by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

SARCon's classes and field exercises will provide several feature-story opportunities for local media outlets in a variety of indoor and outdoor environments.

INFO ONLINE:

• Main site page
• A video about SARCon on our YouTube channel
• Full class and field-exercise listing
• Instructor biographies

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE:

SARCon was founded by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office to enhance communication among the various agencies, experts and volunteer groups who work together in any search-and-rescue operation. In class and field exercises, participants receive hands-on training and participate in discussions on topics related to every aspect of search-and-rescue missions.

Attendees include sheriff's deputies, SAR team members and volunteers, police officers, firefighters and military and medical personnel. The 2010 gathering featured:

• More than 37 expert instructors leading over 50 sessions.
• Seven unique training tracks -- including K-9, SAR Management, Wilderness Survival, Wilderness Medicine, Technology, Water Rescue, and more
• 25 field sessions -- including high-angle rope rescue, water safety and four-day tracking training and search/scent discrimination courses for K9 teams.

THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, VOLUNTEERS AND SAR:

By law, the sheriff in each of Oregon's 36 counties is responsible for all search-and-rescue operations within its borders -- but in Clackamas County, this poses a unique challenge. Mt. Hood is the second most frequently climbed mountain in the world, behind only Mt. Fuji in Japan, which is the site of a religious pilgrimage.

This fact, coupled with the other outdoor recreation opportunities the county affords, makes the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office the busiest search-and-rescue agency in the state.

With its limited budget and staff, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office relies on a cadre of dedicated volunteers to perform much of its actual searching during rescue operations. These include groups such as Portland Mountain Rescue (PMR), Pacific Northwest Search & Rescue, Mountain Wave Emergency Communications and others.

Sheriff's deputies are typically limited to the crucial role of search coordinator -- huddling inside an incident command vehicle that acts as a base of operations, studying maps and directing searchers in the field by radio. Volunteers often head out into the wilderness or climb the icy slopes of Mt. Hood to actually find and retrieve people who are lost.

These volunteers form the backbone of search-and-rescue operations in Clackamas County. SARCon gives them a chance to enhance their relationships and skill sets.

Contact Sgt. James Rhodes for information on setting up interviews at the conference.

[END]

Contact Info:
James Rhodes, Sergeant
Office of Public Information
Clackamas County Sheriff's Office