One of the many things the Summit County Rescue Group is proud
of is our status as a Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) accredited
team. What that means, here in the Rocky Mountain Region of the
MRA, is that we've gone through a rigorous testing process every
five years in which our peers in the region assess the safety and
effectiveness of our rescue procedures.
The test always takes place over a weekend, and consists of five
scenarios: a search, a high angle rock rescue, a low-angle scree
evacuation, an avalanche, and a winter evacuation. Evaluators from
other teams all over Colorado and New Mexico set up the scenarios
and act as observers; then they give the testing team feedback at
the end. It's a great way for teams to learn more about what's
working well for them and what could be improved. It's also a great
teambuilding experience for testing teams, because of the intense
training that takes place during the year before the
reaccreditation.
The Summit County Rescue Group "recerted", as we call it, last
May. Now it's time for our team to participate in the recerts of
other teams, four of which are testing this spring: Grand County,
Routt County, Douglas County and Alpine Rescue Team in Clear
Creek/Jefferson Counties. Many members of those teams helped us
both with our training scenarios and our recert last year, and we
will be repaying the favor by setting up practice scenarios for
them and sending evaluators to their recerts.
It's a great process for all of the Rocky Mountain Region teams,
not just because it sharpens your game in a recert year, but also
because we learn a lot attending the recerts of other teams. Every
team does things a little differently. The MRA does not prescribe
particular rescue techniques or procedures; it only asks that
whatever we do, it is safe, efficient and effective. By sending
evaluators to watch other teams perform, we pick up ideas and best
practices.
Jim Koegel, a mission coordinator with our team, comments, "We
changed the way we build snow anchors a few years ago because of
feedback we got during a recert. We used to put four attendants on
the litter, so we had to overbuild the anchor in order to hold
them. It didn't make any sense to spend extra time doing this,
since we really didn't need four people to attend the litter. Once
we got this feedback, we changed what we were doing and it made us
more efficient at winter evacuations."
We wish our fellow teams all the best during the 2010 recert
season!
Photo: SCRG member Jim Levi tends a "patient" during the high
angle rescue scenario of SCRG's 2009 recertification. Photo
by Colin Dinsmore.