GMR UPDATE
By Don Davis

(19 Oct 2011) I believe we are doing some terrific things in the world, empowering people by teaching self-reliance. We are not as glamorous as the larger disaster relief organizations, however if a small fraction of the revenue from disaster relief was utilized on disaster prevention and education, it would have far more impact. “Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” It may sound cliché but it holds true. Giving people food and shelter after a disaster, while valuable, teaches them nothing. People do not want handouts. They want education and opportunity to do for themselves and be ready in the event of a catastrophe. At GMR, our sole business is helping public safety agencies to become ‘mission ready’.

In 2010, GMR traveled to six different countries performing nine missions of aid and education. From first aid & fire training, to water & rope rescue and auto extrication classes, our services have yielded hundreds of successfully trained students. In 2011, GMR branched out to the country of Ghana in West Africa, teaching members of the National Disaster Management Organization. The first of its kind, this project will be built upon and subsequently transition to train-the-trainer model.

With multiple missions throughout the last two years to Peru through an inter-agency cooperative, GMR has helped foster openness and collaboration of training and resources with agencies that would have not associated with one another. It has truly been an honor to train with the best emergency responders in all of Peru. We have future projects scheduled in 2012 for Armenia with the Peace Corps as well as with local fire agencies in the Dominican Republic. It is our goal to also continue a presence in Peru, Bolivia and Colombia for many years to come.

Over the last two years, GMR has delivered much needed training and thousands of dollars worth of donated equipment and supplies to volunteer agencies in Peru, Columbia, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Haiti, Ghana, Cambodia, & Vietnam. These missions give hope to people in areas of the world where there isn’t much hope. It also provides our instructors with an opportunity to experience different cultures, gaining a better perspective of the world and truly making an impact that will outlive all of us.

Thanks!

Follow the search lights and come be a part of this great evening of fun and entertainment while helping a great cause. There will be a silent auction with great prizes, comedy by Rick Trickey and an 80′s music flashback by Constant Rush.

Sponsored by Global Mission Readiness, Weatherford’s Grand Lodge in Oregon City and Liberty Events.

Deal Cemented Between the Two Organizations for Future Training

By Don Davis

(4 Oct 2010) Lima, Peru – GMR team members met with Lima’s Elite Police Rescue Squad today after accepting an invitation to view their headquarters and training facility. Their team participated in our week-long training in Caraz, Peru that ended last Saturday.

The Policia Nacional’s Central Precinct sits in the heart of Lima’s lower income neighborhood. To get there, we were picked up by three sport utility vehicles that escorted us with lights and siren to their organization. We weaved our way through a maze of streets and heavy traffic that completely disregarded our warning devices.

Our arrival was met by the afternoon shift change of officers preparing for their daily patrol. We were well-received by the team as well as the Commandant (police chief) Jesus Antonio Torres Chang. He welcomed us by presenting all team members with crystal awards and thanked GMR for providing the training course for his crew.

Their team demonstrated some of their advanced rope rescue skills for GMR including rappelling (both standard and Australian), lead climbing, and emergency evacuations from a building utilizing their crew members for rope anchors. It was amazing to see and it was obvious that they were very dedicated and well-trained.

After a tour of the facility, including their dorms, office space and equipment room, we couldn’t help but notice that despite their overall lack of quality eqiupment, they truly enjoy their work and are proud to be considered Lima’s Elite. Even a small equipment donation would benefit them a great deal.

Our meeting concluded with an invitation to return to Lima to train again with the officers and provide input on ways to improve their program. A 2011 return date is in the planning stages.

I have been truly blessed to have met so many wonderful people on my recent journeys with our crew members from GMR. It never ceases to amaze me that no matter what location we visit or the media’s portrayal of said site, people are people. They want happiness, friendship and freedom. They want to learn and they want to be safe. I am honored to have a new group of friends and look forward to a return to South America to continue our work of preparedness and self-reliance. A job well-done.

A special thanks to Greg Kluever, Melanie Kinne, Lucia Carrera Jake Gartland, Shawn Mullen, Dusty Mauck and Mark Pakulak for their dedication to our cause in making the world a safer place.

~Don Davis

The Path to Lima

Meeting With Peruvian National Police of Lima Scheduled

by Mark Pakulak

Sunday morning started out very different for a few members of the GMR team. Me, Don Davis, Dusty Mauck, and Shawn Mullen awoke at 4:30am in order to meet a 5am Taxi to the Anta Airport, located about an hour from Caraz. The remainder of the group slept soundly in our Caraz Hotel. Those of us bound for the airport paid to fly back to Lima rather than endure another long 10-14 hour bus ride through the night. We were to be flying on a small 19-passenger turboprop operated by the carrier, LC BUSRE, and were facing the prospect of a one hour flight, versus losing half a day on the bus. Apparently, the idea of flying through the Andes on such a tiny plane did not excite the other members, so they decided to again take their chances on the bus.

The drive to the airport was an hour of nightmarish darting from side to side on the highway, trying in vain to miss the 9 million potholes that were scattered throughout the route from Caraz to Anta. We arrived at the airport at 6:15 am to a virtually empty, but brand new and modern terminal. We checked in and within 30 minutes were walking across the tarmac to our plane, with the only other two passengers on the flight. That’s right, there was just us four GMR guys and two locals, that was it. The pilot came back, crouched in the aisle and gave us our safety briefing, of which we could understand very little. He then made his way back into the cockpit and we were off to Lima. We fully expected the ride over the Andes in such a small aircraft to be very bumpy and nightmarish, but figured an hour of pure terror was better than 10-14 hours of terror on a bus. Adjacent to our seats were a boxed snack, today’s newspaper, and a pair of earplugs. The little plane roared down the runway and we lifted off fully expecting a nauseating roller-coaster ride for the trip south to Lima. What we got was a completely smooth ride, with one of the most spectacular flight paths you could ever hope to see if you fly in this part of the world. We literally flew alongside, and then over, some of the tallest snow-covered peaks that the Peruvian Andes has to offer. It was breathtaking! Again, I cannot stress how smooth the ride was. Our trip to South America on much larger jets was much more turbulent than this one.

Exactly one hour after departure, we touched down in Lima. The plane parked on the tarmac and a huge bus was waiting right outside the door to take us to the terminal….all six of us. Inside the terminal, we rounded a corner and found ourselves in the lobby. One hour and five minutes after leaving Anta, we were in a Taxi in Lima bound for our hotel. We got to the hotel and were amazed they not only allowed us to check-in early, but they also allowed us to eat at the breakfast buffet as well. Don Davis repeatedly muttered that this was the “best morning ever!!!”. In less than two hours after we left Anta, we were checked-in and eating breakfast while surfing the internet on the hotels Wi-Fi. The other members of the group were facing an evening departure from Caraz for the long trip south to Lima with arrival “sometime” tomorrow morning. All in all, the four of us completely agreed….the extra money spent on the plane tickets…was the best money we have ever spent.

Peru Training Ends

Water & Rope Scenario Ends Week in Dynamic Fashion

By Mark Pakulak

(2 Oct 2010 Caraz, Peru)

Before we get to today’s highlights, let’s flashback briefly to last nights dinner here at the hotel. First, the Mayor was unable to make it to dinner, but two other prized guests did make an appearance…..the guinea pigs. Yes, after days of unsuccessful attempts to eat roasted guinea pig, four members of the GMR group were finally able to dine on the delicacy last evening. I can’t go into great detail, for the benefit of those readers that are squeamish, but it was quite a “memorable” experience to witness as Don Davis, Shawn Mullen, Dusty Mauck, and Jake Gartland all devoured the cute little household pets, which were served completely intact. The rest of us watched in stunned silence. Best quote of the night, “Dude…eat the ears!….the ears are too die for!” courtesy of one of the brave diners as he happily chomped away on a guinea pig ear. You had to see it to believe it.

This morning saw the GMR team and the students hike down to the banks of the Santa River for the last time. Today was designed as an end of course exercise in which the students could put all of the week’s instruction to practical use. The students were given a scenario, and an incident commander was appointed to oversee the exercise as the GMR staff just stood to the side and offered guidance as needed. I took up position in the center of the suspension bridge, a perfect vantage point to photograph the exercise as it unfolded. The students were divided into groups with each having a unique responsibility. At one station, students were placed on a cliff and set up a rope rescue station in which to lower rescuers and a rescue litter to the banks of the river below. A water rescue team was then lowered via rappelling down the cliff to the waters edge. The water rescue team then took up positions along the banks of the river, armed with throw bags, waiting for the next part of the exercise. Upstream, a student posing as a victim, was lowered down to the river and placed into the water. The victim was quickly swept downstream, under the bridge I was manning, and came into view of the water rescue team. The water rescue team used the throw bags and rescue swimmers to retrieve the victim from the water. The victim was brought to shore using c-spine precautions as a litter was being lowered from the nearby cliff. The team then stabilized the victim on a backboard and transferred him to the litter basket where he was packaged for raising up to the top of the cliff. As the team on shore was tending to the victim, Don noticed the rest of the group was distracted watching the victim being placed into the basket rather than watching for more possible victims that may come downstream, so he quietly had a second “victim” enter the water upstream. This victim came into view and everyone on shore again sprang into action. A rescue swimmer quickly reached the victim but the rescuer and victim were having trouble grabbing hold of any of the throw bag rescue lines that were being thrown in front of them. The pair were quickly getting pulled down the rapids as the last throw bag was tossed directly in their path. The rescue swimmer managed to grab the line, but not before both rescuer and victim were briefly pulled completely under the rushing rapids. The pair was successfully pulled to shore, having narrowly missed taking a real long unplanned trip downstream.

All in all, the students performed and worked very well as a large team. Three victims were placed into the water and each was successfully rescued. Two of the three victims were placed into litter baskets and lifted back up the cliff. Due to time constraints, the third victim was not raised. A number of the local natives that traverse the bridge on a daily basis stopped to watch what was unfolding in the river below, not quite sure if it was a real emergency or not. Another unusual sight was a group of local men who were busily bathing themselves and washing their clothes in the river, not 20 yards from where the exercise was taking place.

After a few hours break, the students and GMR staff met up at the auditorium for one last time in order to have a brief graduation ceremony for the 43 students. In the midst of handing out certificates, word came of a serious car accident outside of town. Half of the students and four of the GMR staff immediately left the ceremony and went to the scene of the accident to see if they could be of assistance. It turned out a car had gone over an embankment, with three people receiving minor injuries. The students and GMR staff returned to the auditorium, gifts of shirts and hats were exchanged, photos were taken, and the local BEAR unit was kind enough to supply snacks and refreshments to the group. Everyone adjourned outside to the city plaza for more pictures and goodbyes and then the six day course was officially concluded. We returned to our hotel where the staff had prepared a special dinner of “jungle food” for us. This was a dish I cannot pronounce, that contained yellow rice, unknown poultry, egg, and olives. Like everything we have eaten here in Peru, it was quite tasty.

Four of us are leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning to fly on a crop-duster sized aircraft down to Lima. The other members of the group will be leaving Caraz tomorrow night for the all-night journey on what “they hope” is one of the luxury buses that has the seats that fully recline. We can only hope they do not experience another bus nightmare like the one we endured to get to Caraz. So, my next update will be from Lima, barring any unforeseen nightmares on our tiny little plane tomorrow.

Into The Rio Santa

Training Transitions to Moving Water

By Mark Pakulak and Don Davis

Thursday night saw many of the group going into Caraz to a local eatery to eat roasted Guinea pig. Well, sadly, the restaurant was out of guinea pig, so we ordered chicken. Turns out they were also out of chicken. Without the benefit of our translator Lucia, we eventually came to realize that they were out of ALL food with the exception of French fries. So, we ate French fries for dinner. After leaving that restaurant, we encountered a vendor in the street that was selling grilled beef hearts on a stick. Most of us ate them and they were delicious. I had 4 sticks worth and am happy to report that I did not get sick, even after violating the most basic rule of eating safely in a foreign country…”Never eat from street vendor!”.

Prior to the start of the training day, some of the GMR staff made their way to the local stadium for a friendly early morning round of soccer with some of the students. Apparently, the GMR staff are sadly lacking in soccer skills as everyone reported that the locals “ran circles around them” for most of an hour.

Today saw the class meeting on the banks of the Santa River, a strenuous hike of a good mile or so from the town of Caraz. This was day 2 of water rescue training with the object today being for the students to use the skills they learned in the classroom in a more dynamic environment. First, the students had to survive getting to the actual training site itself. Students hiked through town, down a series of switchbacks, across a wooden suspension bridge, hiked up the other side of a canyon, followed a ridge high above the river, and then had to descend a steep incline about 150’ down to the bank of the river. I made it as far as the top of the steep incline and then high-tailed it back to the safety of town. The river itself is one of the most polluted, contaminated rivers in the world. You cannot underestimate the serious risks of illness that the students and GMR staff were facing due to having to place themselves into such a contaminated environment. But, this is swift water rescue training and the Santa River is the best and only place for the students to get actual hands-on practice in a swift-water environment so, into the river everyone went.

The students broke into two groups, with one group practicing throw bag training and rescues out of the water and the other group doing combat swim exercises where the rescuers jump into the water to pull victims to safety. Their skill levels were very good overall, and all the students were very eager to learn as much as possible during the course. The group performed exercises where a victim was placed in the water and the rescuers had to use throw bags to recover the victim. The students were not content with just one victim, so they practiced rescuing two victims from the water simultaneously. The students then had an exercise where a victim was floating downstream, a rescuer entered the water, and then another rescue then threw a line to both the rescuer and victim.

We are happy to report that all students and GMR staff made it safely out of the water, and as of the writing of this post, none of the GMR folks have felt any type of illness symptoms. Knock on wood. The group is now preparing the arrival of the Mayor of Caraz, who will be dining here at the hotel with us, and a few of the brave members of the group are once again going to try to eat roasted guinea pig.

Water Rescue Training Begins
First Responders From All Over Peru Attend Training

By Mark Pakulak

(30 Sep 2010)

Today began the water rescue training portion of the 6-day course here in Caraz. The students and the GMR instructors again met in the city auditorium where Don Davis began the morning by lecturing on incident command, an overview of a water rescue scene and the proper implementation of water rescue safety. Jake Gartland then discussed river features and water hazards, and the importance of looking at the water you are responsible for throughout the year so you can be aware of changing conditions that you may encounter in a rescue scenario. Dusty Mauck then spoke of personal protective equipment, wetsuits, dry suits, life vests, and throw bags.

Students and Instructors then returned to the local football stadium where the students were divided into three sections. The first section instructed a tension diagonal system instructed by Greg Kluever. The second station was instructed by Jake Gartland and Melanie Kinne and covered throw bags, and hitting a moving target. They also worked on throwing and receiving throw bags. The third station covered throw bags and throwing accuracy and had competitions in which GMR T-shirts were given away to students who performed a successful throw and retrieval in the the shortest amount of time. That station was manned by Don Davis and Dusty Mauck.

The group then met in the foothills of Caraz at a hotel that had an outdoor swimming pool. There, three stations were set up. The first station covered removing a patient from the water using C-Spine precautions, taught by Dusty Mauck. The second station covered combative swimmer, the process of rescuing a patient that is combative and is resisting rescue. Different techniques were covered that enabled the rescuer to get the victim safely to shore. This station was taught by Jake Gartland and Shawn Mullen. The third station covered shallow water crossing where different techniques were practiced to successfully cross fast-moving shallow water. This section was taught by Don Davis.

Tomorrow, the students and GMR staff will be moving to the River Santa where much of these skills will be utilized in an actual swift water setting. To add a little bit of adventure to a long day of instruction, a few brave souls of the GMR staff will be dining on another local delicacy tonight, roasted guinea pig. I much prefer fried hamster myself, so I will be going with the chicken.

Rope Rescue Training, Day 3 – Caraz, Peru

By Mark Pakulak

(29 Sep 2010)

Today found everyone back at the auditorium where Team Leader Greg Kluever started out with a review of mechanical advantage systems. He conducted a thorough review of the previous days instruction and instructed the students that later in the day, the instruction would take place alongside the Santa River which cuts its way through the city of Caraz. Greg stressed that he wanted to be sure that everyone was very familiar with mechanical advantage systems prior to practicing these tasks in the field. He stressed that safety was of the utmost importance and that no one should attempt any task that they did not feel totally comfortable performing. He conducted a review of anchors, belays, loads, load factors, equipment, failures, braking systems, etc. He conducted a thorough review of the 3:1, 5:1, and 9:1 mechanical systems, the importance of placing safety as the #1 priority in each system, and then went through a detailed breakdown from a 9:1 system to a 3:1 system.

Shawn Mullen then led instruction on patient packaging. For you non-fireman like me, this is basically how to load the patient into the rescue basket. Shawn carefully described the proper way to load a patient into the stokes rescue basket and the proper way to secure the patient. If properly secured, the patient can be turned upside down but experience no movement at all within the basket. He discussed straps and equipment needed to connect to the basket. He discussed the use of main lines and belay lines, and discussed the role of the patient attendant in the rescue process. He discussed both high angle and low angle patient packaging while demonstrating each for the students. He discussed the placement and attachment of rescuers to the rescue basket itself and discussed the need for the patient to be placed into a harness or that a harness should be made for them. He also made a point to have the students consider whether a rescue basket was even needed in every scenario. In many cases, it is not, if the patient can be recovered by other means. He talked of using a lowering system to get the basket down to the victim and then the need to quickly convert to a raising system to retrieve the patient. He discussed the use of backboards and the correct placement of backboards in the basket with the patient.

The students were then excused from the auditorium and everyone did the long hike through town and then down a steep ravine to the banks of the Santa River for practical instruction on everything that was covered. The students were divided into four groups. Greg Kleuver taught raising and lowering the rescue basket. Melanie Kinne taught students the correct way to raise and lower the rescuer. Dusty Mauck taught proper patient packaging within the rescue basket, while Shawn Mullen and Jake Gartland taught proper litter tendering. Don Davis floated from group to group and supervised the instruction, while I stood on a nearby ledge, shooting photos and getting horrifically sunburned.

With limited dining options here in Caraz, a few brave members of the group are venturing out and have taken to eating local fare from street vendors. Many of them have now discovered the delicious taste of grilled cow heart and other delicacies. A few of us are still paranoid about anything we eat, but a brave few will eat anything they come across. And so far, the brave ones have not gotten sick. Knock on wood.

Instruction Day 2 – Caraz, Peru

By Mark Pakulak

(27Sep2010)

Before covering today’s doings with the team, I must tell you of an incident that occurred as the team was walking to the local soccer stadium yesterday. We were all walking the 6 blocks from the auditorium to the stadium when everyone noticed smoke pouring from an upper window of a two-story home. I was about a block further down the street when I heard the commotion and turned to see what was going on. As I shuffled back up the hill towards the house, I could see that some of the members of our team had formed a human ladder and had lifted Shawn Mullen up to where he could see into the open window. There was indeed a small fire in the room, but when the lady who lived in the home stuck her head out of the doorway on the first floor, she quickly informed everyone as to the purpose of this fire that she had intentionally set. It turns out she had set the fire to smoke all the insects out of her home, a practice which apparently, is quite common in this area. A lot of homes do not have glass windows and a lot of homes are of such primitive construction that there is no way to keep out the insects. This is how many people in this area of the world tackle this little problem.

Today’s session again started out in the town auditorium with Team Leader Greg Kluever lecturing about raising and lowering systems, rappelling, and mechanical advantages. He stressed that the main factor to consider in any raising/lowering system is safety. He taught that raising systems are powered by the rescuers themselves and must be belayed. He discussed the uses of pulleys, anchors, and loads. He went on to cover simple mechanical advantage and the difference between 3:1, 5:1, and 9:1 raising systems. He demonstrated how to change from a raising system to a lowering system and vice versa. The other team members demonstrated all of these concepts from the front of the stage and all the students were very eager to watch these demonstrations. Through the interpreter, many of the students indicated that their units did not have all of the necessary equipment to create these raising and lowering systems and that they had to improvise with the little equipment they did have. Greg Kluever indicated that primitive systems could still be effective and that he was looking forward to seeing what systems the students have been using.

Shawn Mullen addressed the students and talked of rappelling techniques and safety. He stressed that proper rappelling technique is very slow and safe, quite different from the high-speed rappelling often seen in Hollywood films. This drew a laugh from the students. The students were told that they would be performing practical uses of rappelling and raising/lowering systems at the football stadium later that day. The students were asked if they wanted to break for lunch and then meet at the stadium, or if they would like to go directly to the stadium to start practicing these techniques. By a huge margin, the group voted to go directly to the stadium to begin the hands-on training. These students are all very eager to learn and practice everything they can in the short period of time that the Global Mission Readiness team is here in Caraz. The afternoon was spent at the stadium practicing these rappelling techniques.

In other news, Dr. Ponce informed Don Davis that Don has been invited to meet with the Mayor of Caraz later in the week. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the possibility of establishing a rescue training center here in Caraz, and what GMR’s role in the creation and operation of that facility may be.