Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue Team Memebers Perform Rescue During Swift Water RescueTraining

Kern County, CA- August 12th, 2009

Members of the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue (SBCSAR) successfully completed a 30-hour Swiftwater Rescue Technician course on the Kern River east of Bakersfield, CA from August 6-9, 2009.  Team members learned various water rescue techniques on how to rescue injured and or trapped individuals in moving water as well as how to recognize and treat water related injuries. The trained proved to be timely as team members were requested to rescue and treat a swimmer in the Kern River just a few hundred yards down river of where they were training.  

On Saturday, August 8th, a fisherman was swept down the current and was trapped in a recirculating hydraulic rapid.  SBCSAR members reached the subject just after he was pulled out of the water by another fisherman.  SBCSAR Wilderness EMTs began a medical assessment and treatment of the subject who suffered head, chest, abdomen and leg injuries. Meantime, other team members brought in oxygen, backboard, stretcher and other medical gear over the rough terrain.  Given the location and distance from the nearest road or trail, SBCSAR coordinated with the Kern County Sheriff’s Aviation Department in hoisting the injured subject out of the canyon utilizing their Air 5 Rescue Helicopter. He was then flown to Kern County Trauma Medical Center in Bakersfield, CA.

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