| OCR Text |
Show In many states, the county sheriff is the civil officer legally responsible for conducting rescue actions. He has the authority to call up equipment, request manpower and commit public funds in support of a rescue. He must be notified in the early stages of an avalanche accident alarm. Normally this notification is the responsibility of the avalanche rescue leader. The degree of participation by a sheriff's office in avalanche rescue varies widely from one county to another. The sheriff should be contacted and coordination established at the time a rescue plan is prepared. For areas located on National Forests, the rescue leader should also pass along an early alarm to the District Ranger. Aside from strictly administrative requirements, this opens up another avenue by which such resources as communications, manpower and equipment can be channelled to the accident scene. 1.2.2 Designating the Hierarchy of Command An avalanche rescue leader is designated at the time the rescue plan is drawn up. In a large ski area, this usually will be a Forest Service Snow Ranger or a Ski Patrol Chief. He assumes complete direction of the rescue until the sheriff or his deputy arrives. In many cases, either by prearrange-ment or by decision at the moment, he will continue to direct the rescue with consensus of the sheriff's office. The rescue plan lists in order a number of substitute rescue leaders who will assume command of the rescue in the absence of the designated leader from the area at time of the accident. The rescue plan also lists men who are competent to assume the tasks of accident site commander and column leaders. In practice, the site commander will often be the next available man on the list of leader substitutes. The designated rescue leader and his substitutes ordinarily are drawn from the most experienced men in an area. This group may include Rangers, Ski Patrolmen, Ski Instructors, lift foreman or local residents. The rescue leader must be familiar with: a. Modern avalanche rescue techniques. b. The local terrain. c. Location of rescue equipment. d. Principles of recognizing and avoiding avalanche danger. e. The rescue plan. Knowledge of avalanche hazard recognition is sometimes overlooked as a qualification. The rescue leader often is responsible for decisions to send rescue groups into potentially dangerous areas. He must be prepared to make these decisions wisely. |
