Eureka Search and Rescue: 10 Years Leading the Charge

Eureka's Search and Rescue Team, coordinated through the , responded to 25 calls for service for lost persons in 2011. And most recently, on April 6, it was called into North St. Louis County to assist with .

Eureka Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Randy Gabel said the 35 to 40 members of the Search and Rescue Team train twice a month for three to four hours each time. Searches include locating downed aircraft, lost hunters and missing hikers or children. The team also assists with crime scene and evidence searches, as well as emergency or disaster situations.

"They are everyday people with good hearts," Gabel said, of the volunteer search and rescue members. "Some are nurses, some are retired police officers and firefighters. Others are people who just want to help."

The team was formed in 2002 after the Eureka Fire Protection District recognized there was a need for trained volunteers when searching for lost, injured or missing persons. It grew from a mounted-only unit to a multi-disciplined, self-sufficient search team with its own communications and support capabilities, along with trained planning and management personnel.

All team members train year-round in back-country travel, including map and compass tracking, global positioning system (GPS) use, communications, first aid, evidence preservation, and search and rescue operations.

Gabel said the canine-related volunteers are extremely dedicated. "That's not something you just pick up. They go through six months to a year of training, just to get started. Then certification programs validate our personnel and dogs."

He said one or two walkers usually accompany a dog team for safety reasons, because dog handlers are so focused on their canine partners, they often don't keep track of exactly where they are.

Members of the team carry pagers or cell phones so they all can be instantly notified of a search call-out. When dispatched, each member of the team responds to the search area with their equipment, first aid supplies, and two-way radios for communication with search coordinators and other team members.

"Our expert volunteers can create extremely detailed rural maps at the scene of incidents, and set up grid searches using GPS quadrants and compass settings," said Gabel. "We have seven or eight computer geeks who are wonderful at 'making stuff happen' from the group's mobile trailer."

Searchers typically are tracked by microphones on the walkie-talkies they carry, which enable the search and rescue team command post volunteers to create an overall map they can download and leave with the agency or police departments who called them in to each accident.

Law enforcement and fire departments across Missouri and western Illinois repeatedly request Eureka's Search and Rescue Team to assist in all manner of searches and other incidents requiring trained searchers. For example, , as well as during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

"We assist with searches, but we do not take them over," said Gabel.

Specific components of the team include the following expertise.

• Incident Command/Search Operations:
  These members are certified, and are equipped with computerized mapping software to formulate search plans and track search progress.
• Communications:
  These members are trained in all aspects of communications, and have their own communications network to include VHF and UHF radios, repeaters and extenders.
• Canine:
  This group uses canines trained in tracking/trailing; air scent; and human remains recovery.
• Mounted:
  As compared to ground searching, horses are faster, can carry more supplies to stay out longer, offer a higher viewing platform for searching, and provide a more rested rescue worker when a subject is found. The mounted unit uses well-trained horses capable of searching large tracts of forest, fields, trails and other terrain.
• Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue:
  These members are trained in how to safely prepare for and approach large animal rescue incidents.