JACKSON COUNTY, Wis. –
A Wisconsin Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crew trained alongside Jackson County Emergency Management, the Ho-Chunk Nation Emergency Management and Trail Ambassadors for a search and rescue training exercise in early June in Jackson County.
Trail ambassadors is a national non-governmental organization that promotes recreational vehicle and trail use.
The Black Hawk crew included members from Company C, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment and Company G, 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment, both based in West Bend, Wisconsin.
“As the only hoist-capable assets in Wisconsin, we are able to respond to help search for a lost person,” said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Furbee, a critical care flight paramedic and enlisted flight instructor at the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s Army Aviation Support Facility #1 in West Bend. “We can hoist them out of a confined area and transport them to receive medical care in cases that might otherwise take hours and increase the risk to rescuers.”
There were two scenarios for the training exercise. The first involved a 14-year-old girl who ran away from her grandparents following a dispute and was struck by a vehicle and the second involved a search volunteer who also became lost.
“Teams were broken up into grids and dispatched ahead of the air crews,” said Adam Harden, deputy administrator for the Sheboygan-based Trail Ambassadors. “They used their training to perform search and rescue tactics, as well as team building and radio communications.”
The Black Hawk crew communicated with the Trail Ambassador ground search team via WISCOM, a shared statewide, interoperable, land mobile radio public safety communications system administered jointly by the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs Office of Emergency Communications and the state Department of Transportation, to communicate over long distances. Trail Ambassador participants communicated with each other on other channels.
“Radio communications play a vital role in our operations,” Harden said, “and all teams involved did a fantastic job utilizing the various frequencies and systems to communicate throughout the day.”
Once the ground search team found the teen and determined her situation, they requested an airlift.
“We found the rescuers at the pickup site, and determined the best extraction device would be a rescue seat,” Furbee said. He was hoisted down from a height of 150 feet, received a medical report from the first responders, and assessed the patient.
“I determined that I would be able to safely ride the rescue seat and called in the helicopter to lower the hook to me to raise the victim to the aircraft,” Furbee said. Once onboard, he continued medical care until the Black Hawk arrived at a simulated hospital.
The Black Hawk crew also helped Trail Ambassador ground search teams locate a notionally missing search volunteer. Ambassadors used utility terrain vehicles and four-wheel drive vehicles for the exercise.
Harden said that Jack Workman, the Jackson County Emergency Management coordinator and Kevin Scholze, the Ho-Chunk Emergency Management coordinator, played a major role in the command staff during the exercise.
“This was a great partnership for all parties involved,” Harden said. “This type of collaboration between non-government organizations and government agencies is an example of how Wisconsin leads the nation in forged partnerships that stand ready to answer the call for search and rescue operations.”