Summit County Rescue Group

Last Wednesday, February 24th, SCRG members spent the day with kids from the Summit Day Camps to teach backcountry safety awareness.

The day began with a slide show featuring rescue photos from many different specialties of the Summit County Rescue Group: technical rock rescue, swiftwater rescue, avalanche rescue, and basic summer and winter evacuation methods for injured patients. The slide show included information about careers that being a volunteer rescuer can prepare you for, including ski patrolling, emergency medical services, wilderness program instruction and backcountry guiding.

Following the slide show, kids divided into two groups to talk about what a safe backcountry recreationalist should carry in his or her pack. Rescuers went through their own backpacks show-and-tell style, and showed the ten essentials of safe backcountry travel: food, water, extra clothing, some type of shelter, a fire starter, a knife, a whistle, sunscreen and sunglasses, map and compass, and a headlamp or flashlight. The groups also talked about what kids should do if they get lost in the woods: "hug a tree", or stay put, and blow their whistle.

Then the entire group hiked up to Rainbow Lake, where the kids learned how to use an avalanche beacon to find another beacon buried in the snow, and how to build a "quincy", or an above-ground snow cave, to stay warm in a survival situation. Each of the kids had a chance to practice with a beacon and to crawl into the quincy and check it out before we called it a day and hiked back to the school.

f you have a school, scout or other children's group that might benefit from a similar program, don't hesitate to get in touch with us! To inquire about or to schedule an educational event with the Summit County Rescue Group, email us at info@scrg.org.