Thursday night March 18, 2010 ALERT began its spring line training during a class session with Sgt. David Eskeland of New Hampshire’s Fish and Game Dept. Line training is one of ALERT’s core training goals and is one of ALERT’s main skills.
Bright and early Saturday morning ALERT headed into the Musquash Conservation area off of Hickory Hill Rd. and began the field training portion of the line search skill. Prior to the volunteer team’s entrance into the forest, ALERT training coordinator Rich Semaski and Wayne Hall set up a scenario of a missing person situation and placed items in the search grid for the team to locate and practice protocol.
This weekend’s exercise had a great diversity of experience among the training group, from new ALERT members attending their first line search training to more seasoned members who have been line search qualified for many years and continue to sharpen their skills and experience. The conditions provided a range of obstacles and lessons including downed trees related to the recent wind storm and considerable wet areas from rain and thaw.
After the field line search training the team went over the experience with Sgt. Eskeland who also conducted a brief basic compass training before the team dispersed to begin their weekend.
Thank you to Sergeant Eskeland, Rich Semaski, Wayne Hall, and the rest of the ALERT team that took the time out of their personal lives to increase their preparedness and benefit for the community.
View all of the images from this event -images courtesy of Keith Tharp – Champion Photo
