Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue
Meeting Minutes: Tuesday February 28, 2012 1800 Hours
Location: Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office
A monthly meeting of the Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue (AVSAR) organization was held on Tuesday February 28, 2012 at 1800 hours Mountain Daylight Time. It was held in the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office classroom.
Board Members Present: Donna Mabry, Don Thompson, Botond Vita, and Suzi Hopper.
Team Members Present: Nathan Gonzales, Darrell Elder, Marty Crites, James Bower, Sippy Archuleta, Steve Morrison, Andrew Deason and DeAnna Wagner (Ken Wagner).
Board Absent: George Rapoza and Chris Lavery.
Guests Present: None.
Call to Order: Donna Mabry called the meeting to order at 1804 hours Mountain Daylight Time. Suzi Hopper recorded the minutes. A quorum of members were present, and the meeting having been duly convened, was ready to proceed with business.
Introduction of Guests and New Members: None.
Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes: A hardcopy of the minutes for January was available for everyone to look over and were unanimously accepted. They were also posted online.
Treasurer’s Report: Don went over the Treasurer’s Report and made it available for review. It was unanimously accepted.
Correspondence: None.
Committee Reports: None.
Announcements: None.
Old Business: None.
New Business: Donna reviewed our policy on why our team does not make reimbursements for expenses to team members who respond to a callout. She reminded us all that we do this for the good of others and if it becomes a financial hardship that one solution might be to car pool. Otherwise, although we appreciate any help we can get, one might consider a volunteer opportunity closer to where they live.
We reviewed our two callouts that both occurred in February. The first took place on February 11, 2012, when the Alamosa Police Department requested assistance in locating a missing woman. Just over an hour later she made contact with one of the Detectives who confirmed she had left town for her own safety. The second was on February 26, 2012. We were requested by Sgt Jimmy McCloskey of the Sheriff’s Office to help search a neighborhood and field for a possible stolen semi automatic gun. He was concerned that a child might find the gun and it was unknown if the gun was loaded or not. The gun was not located but another item that had been stolen was recovered and helped in the investigation of another burglary.
New team members were advised that they needed to be with the team for a year to be eligible for any training paid for with AVSAR funds. Another WFA class will be offered in November at Adams State College.
Training: Our next training will take place March 3, 2012 at the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office Classroom at 0900 hours and will cover SOAP Notes and be presented by Botond Vita, Medical Officer. Afterwards we will go across the street for a “get to know your rescue rig” review and inventory.
March’s training will be on Saturday, March 31, 2012, and will be held in the classroom at the Sheriff’s Office.
After Meeting Training: Botond gave a talk on the dangers and treatment of hypothermia/cold challenge rescues.
Next Meeting: The next monthly meeting of the AVSAR organization will be held on Tuesday March 27, 2012 at 1800 hours Mountain Daylight Time at the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office classroom.
Adjournment: There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 1834 hours Mountain Daylight Time.
Respectfully submitted,
Suzi Hopper
AVSAR Executive Secretary