NORTHSTAR BACKCOUNTRY MEDICAL RESPONSE TEAM
Mission Statement
"NorthStar Backcountry Medical Response Team is charged with responding to ill and injured persons in an off-road environment in the forests, mountains, lakes and rivers within the NorthStar EMS response area, and, in collaboration with the Maine Warden Service and other wilderness rescue responders, providing public education as well as emergency medical care using the highest level of wilderness prehospital care providers available"
(Meeting minutes are on the NorthStar Members Page)
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The next meeting will be:
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Upcoming events
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Pictures from the field....
(Click on the picture to enlarge)
- Map and Compass Work (Pete, Steve, Mike, Dennis)
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- GPS and Compass Work (Steve, Pete, Dennis)
- More Map and Compass Work (Mike, Steve, Pete, Dennis)
- Ropes and Knots Training
- Improvised Harness
- Munter Hitch and Prussik Safety
- Steve Over the Edge
- Junior Mountain Rangers
- Anyone Can Do It
DK aka "The Master"
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If you have been on an off-road rescue lately, let's hear about it so we can post it here!!
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The Bookstore..................
Another good read is a book entitled "The Falling Season" about the members and rescues of the Aspen, Colorado High Mountain Rescue Team, an all volunteer group which works under the County Sherriff, sometimes well...and sometimes, not so well. Add in media overexposure, governmental ineptitude and bureaucracy and of course the strong willed minds of search and rescue folks....and it makes for interesting reading.
Written by Hal Clifford, an experienced menber........and is 270 pages in length.
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Watch for "Notes from the Trail" a monthly update and information on hiking trips taken by Northstar members and info on local trails as it is brought to our attention.
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SUMMER GEAR PREP:
Now might be a good time to go through your rescue pack and get it ready for the summer months. Test and replace the batteries in your headlamp and GPS, and check the contacts on your headlamp. Sitting in your pack, they tend to corrode and won’t work when you need them. At the same time, replace the fuel in your stove as well as your lighter, the fuel may evaporate over time.
It's now bug and black fly season....carry a good quality bug dope, spray it on your clothes, rather than your skin...some people can have a reaction to DEET if absorbed through the skin. Spray your legs and cuffs to keep down tick attatchment.
Sunscreen and sun glasses should also be added to your summer pack, as well as a pair of hiking shorts (NOT for bushwhacking!).
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Remember !!
The only way to learn how to use your maps, compass, and gps is to get outside and play with it !! They do not work indoors.
During all our outdoor training sessions, review of map, compass, and navigation essentials will be a staple of our training program. If anything....we do not want to be the ones getting lost!!
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Franklin Search and Rescue: Contact Steve Yates (Northstar Sugarloaf W-EMT) President for info and meeting/training dates.
Anyone interested in joining Franklin Search and Rescue should contact Steve Yates at the following:
265-2638 vose@somtel.com
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