The Cache County Sheriff's Search & Rescue is a unit dedicated to saving lives through search and rescue and safety education. The team is composed totally of volunteers and is available upon request for search and rescue operations anywhere in Utah, under the authority of the local county sheriff, or in other states and countries under local authority. The team is also available to provide information and lectures on safety, survival, and wilderness medicine to interested individuals and groups. Cache County Sheriff's Search & Rescue team prides itself on its many years of humanitarian service and its reputation for capability and safety. The members train and practice a variety of skills used in wilderness and urban search and rescue operations. These skills include land navigation, mountaineering, use of technical rope rescue systems, mantracking, under water rescue, swift water rescue, cave rescue, snowmobile and all terrain vehicle operation, avalanche rescue, K9, search operation management, radio communication, survival, wild land fire fighting and first aid.

Self sufficiency is a trademark of Cache County Sheriff's Search & Rescue. We expect members to be prepared to operate in the field at search operations, autonomously. Besides training extensively in mountaineering skills and search and rescue techniques, members work diligently to improve their emergency medical capability. Most members are certified to the First Responder level, and many are Emergency Medical Technicians. The unit is an independent, charitable, 501(3)(c) corporation, associated with the Cache County Sheriff's Emergency Services Division. Our members donate their time and equipment for training and emergency operations.

Funding

We have no regular source of funding. The team is dependent upon contributions from individuals, groups, firms and agencies interested in supporting our efforts. Occasionally, fundraising activities help to repair and replace the group owned equipment. Frequently the individual members fund the actual search or rescue.

Cache County Demographics:

Cache County is found in northern Utah, With the county seat being the city of Logan. It is also the home of Utah State University; which brings an influx of students every fall. The average population is 100,000. There are 1174 square miles in the county which include two wilderness areas, 418 square miles of Forest Service lands, and 81 square miles of State lands. The elevation starts at 4300 feet above sea level to approximately 10,000 feet at the highest peak. In the winter it can receive on the average of 120 inches of snow in the mountains. The temperature through the year will range from 30 degrees below zero in winter to 110 in the summer. Cache County Sheriffs' Search and Rescue respond mainly to back-country and wilderness areas for medical responses, however, our service area is described as the whole of Cache County. In a disaster situation, our agency would provide assistance as needed throughout the county.

From the very beginning, the Cache County Sheriff's Search and Rescue has grown from the 12 original members to its current 32 active members and 10 retired. It has been an uphill battle to supply and maintain our equipment. Currently our group owns a building that was constructed using donations and fundraising projects to purchase the materials. The members and other individuals donated their time to construct the building. The building is used for regular and training meetings. It also houses two Snocats and transport trucks, two 14 foot aluminum boats, two generators, a suburban equipped with rescue and first aid supplies, a panel van used as a command center and a mini motor home. Most of this equipment is 15 to 30 years old and is in need of replacement or major repairs. One snow cat is on a loan from the United States Government, the other we built from two old machines. The suburban we restored from a wellused paramedic van used by another county. As you can see, some equipment has limited us. Each member is also responsible for their personal equipment which may include snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, climbing, scuba, medical and survival gear. Depending on what personal equipment one has, the expenses can exceed thousands of dollars.

Callouts

Annually we will average 18 callouts which will involve about 1,200 man hours and 10,000 vehicle miles. However in 1997 alone there were 36 call-outs for assistance, which does not include medical responses. Regular and training meetings will exceed eighteen hundred man hours and nine thousand vehicle miles.

History of the Cache County Search and Rescue By the Members

We were receiving applications for the Cache County Jeep Patrol back in January of 1960, but it was not until June of 1962 that we were officially organized, with T. Scott Hess as the first Commander. It was a couple of years before it became part of the Sheriff's office and adopted the name "Cache County Sheriff's Jeep Patrol." At that time everyone owned a C.J. model Jeep and was required to have them painted blue and white with the same markings, including a "V" on the hood for easy identification from the air. As time progressed, we brought other types of 4x4 vehicles into the Patrol, but were still required to have them painted blue and white with a "V" on the hood. In 1973 we decided "Jeep" Patrol really didn't fit because we only had three Jeeps among our 16 members so we changed our name to the Cache County Sheriff's Search and Rescue, using "Jeep Patrol" as a second or nickname. Our existence is for service to the people of Cache County and others that may visit, working with the Sheriff and other local governmental agencies. We receive no pay for our efforts in search and rescue nor is any expected. Our pay is knowing that our work and training have brought happiness to a family. In our 35 years we have had every type of experience one can imagine, from rounding up a herd of buffalo to the dismal task of cleaning up an airplane wreck. Time spent on a search has ranged from one hour to four or five days. Occasionally calls for overdue people turn out to be false alarms, or people return home after we are out searching.

Over the years we have strived to become a first rate Search & Rescue team. By comments and letters received from the citizens of Cache County, we feel we have the trust and respect we have worked for. The "Patrol" owes much of this to the people who support us and to the present and past Sheriff's who have helped us along the way, especially with our communications and practical training, which enhances our endeavors.

We are volunteers . . . there is never a charge for us to find or rescue people in need.