ERT Assists Friend Ships’ Preparations for Haiti
February 1st, 2010
Friend Ships’ Spirit with the MV Integrity in the background.
Half of Unit 42’s ERT recently deployed to assist Friend Ships in their preparation to transport relief supplies to Haiti. Friend Ships is a Christian ministry which specializes in the overseas transport of supplies for disaster relief and humanitarian aid. www.friendships.org
Much of the men’s time was spent palletizing, waterproofing, and shrinkwrapping donated food and relief supplies for shipment to Haiti. Here the men are packing soy grits.
Waterproofing pieces of the emergency radio station for shipment.
Shrink wrapping a pallet of food.
Most of the ship was loaded by forklift but the men eagerly jumped in as needed to load items by hand.
Friend Ships will be setting up a base camp in Haiti to provide ongoing medical relief as well as relief distribution. Here the men move supplies to be packed for use in the base camp.
The ALERT team with a few of the pallets they packed in the background. These men distinguished themselves by their eagerness to work and servant’s hearts doing whatever was asked of them to prepare the ship to sail. In four days they were able to pack 200+ pallets of food, medical supplies which will be used to demonstrate Christ’s love to the people of Haiti.
Motorcycle and Body pulled from flooded creek near Hallsville, TX.
November 11th, 2009
On November 08, 2009, Steve Dankers and members of the ALERT dive team recovered the body of motorcyclist Antwain Chism from Little Cypress Creek north of Hallsville, Texas. Chism’s motorcycle was recovered from the river at 10:30 pm and his body at 11:10 pm.
ALERT was informed that a young man rode his motorcycle off the road into the swift moving water of the swollen Little Cypress Creek and drowned. The Marion County Dive Team had been called but the area was large and they requested help. Steve Dankers suggested the help of Longview Fire Department Dive Team and they also responded.
Marion County Dive Team located the motorcycle before ALERT and Longview F.D. arrived. Due to the cold water and dangerous conditions divers were limited in the amount of time they could search. ALERT and Longview Divers arrived on the scene at 6:50 pm and began the five hour task of locating the victim among all the debris clogging the river bottom. Despite the cold and hazardous conditions, diver’s covered approximately 15,000 square feet in low visibility water with a 0.7-knot current.
ALERT responded to the call from Harrison County Game Warden Javier Quintez and his partner Darren Peeples. They heard about ALERT from Upshur County Game Warden David Pellizzari. The International ALERT Academy appreciates the opportunity to serve their community with emergency service skills.
Click here to view the CBS19 News Report
ALERT dive team members who responded to this incident: Steve Dankers, Joel Talley, Cliff Patrick, Jedediah Backus, Gabriel Flores, Micah Justice, and Trevor Thiel.
Survival Week: River Crossing Competition
October 29th, 2009
If a group of men on a wilderness rescue mission or out hiking need to cross a river without a boat usually they would have to swim across, getting wet and taking unnecessary risks. If they are carrying a rope a river crossing system can be set up. Using this method only one man swims across and the rest stay dry. Unit 42 learned the river crossing system a couple of weeks ago. Today they will compete to discover which squad is the fastest.
Two squads compete against each other, working for a good time so they can advance to the next round. In this picture they are holding their gear over their heads waiting for “Go!” from the Senior Drill Sergeant.
The swimmer takes one end of the squad’s rope across the river. While they are swimming the rest of the squad starts tying their Swiss seats.
The swimmer ties a tensionless hitch to a tree on his side. Pictured here is recruit Creedon.
On the other side the squad sets up a 3:1 haul system to tighten the line. Here Recruits Kalich and Carnley tie prussiks.
The squad pulls, tensioning the rope system. Pictured here is Alpha 3rd.
Then a truckers hitch is tied. A trucker’s hitch allows the squad to pull the free end of the rope, “pop” the truckers hitch, and pull the whole rope system across the river behind them. Pictured here are Recruits Gomez and McKenzie
Next the squad rapidly moves across the river. The recruits are clipped to the rope using their Swiss seat and a carabineer.
The last man brings the end of the rope across with him.
It is pulled allowing the system to be drawn across the river. Here Specialist Downing helps Recruits Larsen and Dieckmann pop the system.
Once the rope is coiled and their Swiss seats are removed the squad yells, “Done Sir!” Picture here is Specialist Boulden with Bravo Second.
Alpha 1st won the competition with a time of 4:57.
Dive Team Recovers Wheelchair
October 20th, 2009
On October 17, 2009, Joel Talley and members of the ALERT dive team recovered a wheelchair for a fisherman at Lake Fork, TX. The dive team responded to a call on October 16 from Wood County Game Warden Kurt Kelly for a fisherman who lost his wheelchair while in a fishing tournament. Mr. Talley and his divers arrived on scene at 4:15 p.m. They searched for several hours in the area the fisherman found the wheelchair’s cushion floating. The team planned to return the next day to expand the search area.
They recovered the wheelchair on October 17 at 6:08 p.m. in 34 feet of water with little to no visibility after 2 hours of searching. The bottom of the lake was relatively clear of debris allowing the option of the Circle Search method. The divers used GPS and buoys to grid off nearly 80,000 square feet. After debriefing and packing up their gear, the ALERT divers were able to return the wheelchair to friends of the fisherman that evening.
Low Ropes Course, PTs and Honor Squad
October 16th, 2009
Recently Unit 42 completed the ALERT low ropes course. This course builds teamwork by challenging the men with a series of obstacles created from logs, ropes, tires, and cables.
Half of Bravo 2nd started at the end of each log. Here they are trying to pass each other at the logs’ junction.
Recruit Derbyshire walks across the swinging log.
Charlie 1st cross across a gap using only tire swings.
The men also had their second PT test.
Recruit Bergeron
Early one morning Unit 42 ran down to the lake for a water PT.
The whole unit runs back
During basic training various squads work to become the Honor Squad. This squad has been consistently demonstrating excellence in teamwork, skills, and character. They hike at the front of the unit on hikes and receive certain other privileges. One of the recruits from this squad is selected to represent the unit as guidon bearer. Because the guidon is a physical representation of the unit and bears the unit number and streamers for each preceding unit is both a great honor and a responsibility to be chosen as guidon bearer.
Pictured here is Unit 42’s first Honor Squad was Alpha 1st with the guidon bearer being Recruit Jesse Dolan.
ERT Wilderness Care and Survival
September 15th, 2009
Wilderness Care and Survival trains ALERT responders how to provide care for medical emergencies far from hospital care.
Men participate in the American Heart Association CPR and AED course. Correct care is taught and demonstrated for various injuries.
Students to practice their bandaging and patient care skills before heading to field for scenarios.
Teams of men were sent out on scenarios to locate and provide treatment for an injured victim.
They provided care based the training they received using only the supplies they had in their packs.
Building a stretcher and transporting the victim to the rendezvous point is the final challenge.
A highlight of the week was a visit from AirOne medevac helicopter.
The crew taught the men how to set up a landing zone in the event a patient would need to be evacuated by helicopter.
Campus Storm Cleanup
September 7th, 2009
On the night of the July 21st a severe band of thunderstorms swept through the Big Sandy area. At the ALERT campus, power was knocked out and a number of trees were blown with some blocking roads. Sawyer crews were deployed to clear blocked roads during the night in order to allow the utility company to restore power. ERT and advanced training units gained sawyer experience throughout out the next day as they work to cut up the damaged trees both on campus and in the surrounding area.
ERT FireFighting
August 10th, 2009
During firefighting week of ERT, Responders take classes and participate in practicals that expose them to the basics of firefighting and prepare them for future service.
Men gain hands-on experience using fire extinguishers.
Gaining confidence using self-contained breathing apparatus, men travel through an obstacle course. This course simulates many fireground activities, including carrying hoses, heavy fans, climbing ladders, ventilating roofs, moving heavy objects and traveling through constricted areas.
Ladder exercises include victim removals by firefighting students.
Using different size diameter hoses and types of nozzles, men work with various handlines. Students must learn to control the nozzle reaction and how to maneuver with them as a team.
Master stream devices allow hundreds of gallons to be discharged per minute over long distances.
Vertical ventilation through a roof structure is practiced by ALERT men using power saws and hand tools.
Performing search and rescue inside a fogged building provides valuable experience for the low visibility situations they will encounter inside a structure fire. Victims must be located and removed from the building successfully to complete this exercise.
As part of a final scenario, ALERT men are faced with a live vehicle fire that they must extinguish.
Working together to apply the skills learned throughout the week, fire companies quickly knockdown and work to overhaul the involved vehicle.
ERT Sawyer Class
August 4th, 2009
In order to ready ALERT responders for future disaster relief, their second week in ERT is Sawyer class.
Under the instruction of Sgt. Jonathan Archibald, the men learned skills in chainsaw operation, maintenance, and safety.
Classroom sessions were accompanied by time spent in the field, putting the concepts to practice and refining technique.
Given the shifting weight and complicated dynamics often present with storm blown trees, a major area of practice is learning to read and work around the areas of tension and compression that can easily bind up chainsaws.
Use of safety equipment including chaps, helmet, eye and ear protection was stressed so that maximum safety can be maintained in potentially hazardous environments.
Once the groundwork has been practiced, men progress to felling standing trees. Learning to drop a standing tree in an accurate and controlled manner allows them to be confident in more complex disaster areas.
ERT High Angle Class
July 20th, 2009
ALERT Unit 41 began Emergency Response Training with a week of High Angle training.
This course is designed to give men the confidence and skills they need to operate safely and effectively while performing rope rescues. Many men learn to overcome or work through their fear of heights while learning to serve in this environment.
Many skills are practiced on the 40′ training tower located on ALERT campus. Responders gain experience in rappelling, ascending, patient packaging, and basket management while performing scenarios.
Faced with increasingly challenging scenarios, young men must control their own movements, stabilize victims who may be in distress, and transport them safely to an extraction point.
Those assigned to running the main and belay lines must plan ahead and manage their systems well to allow the rescuer to successfully assist the patient.
Completing the course with a final scenario and written test, the men completed High Angle Rescue course and emerge as new Rope Rescue Technicians. While building many new skills, High Angle is also one the most enjoyable classes for many in ERT.
