San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team Is Looking For A Few Good Mountaineers
Find adventure. Serve your community.
Apply as a volunteer mountaineer with the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team.
If you’re interested in an exciting, rewarding, and challenging way to give back to your community, the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team may be just what you’re looking for.
The team will be hosting an
open house for volunteer mountaineer applicants
Saturday, October 2, 9-11 a.m., and
Wednesday, October 6, 7-9 p.m. at the Mountain Rescue Station,
114 East First Street in San Dimas.
The San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team searches for and rescues missing, trapped and injured hikers; rescues vehicle accident victims in the mountains; assists with evacuations during wildland fires and floods, and participates in many other rescue situations. They are on-scene at accidents in which a car has plummeted over the side of the mountain’s treacherous winding roads. They rappel down to the victims, sometimes as far as 800 feet, and bring the injured back up to the road in a litter or work with aero units to hoist the victims out via helicopter. They rescue hikers who are trapped on the side of cliffs or stranded by a fast-moving body of water. They also work with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s CSI teams at crime scenes in the mountains.
Members of the team are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help people who visit the mountain areas of Eastern Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Mountains.
Recruits will attend SDMRT’s mountaineering academy on weekends and evenings where they’ll learn the fundamentals of mountaineering, including rappelling, swiftwater and snow-and-ice rescue, tracking lost hikers, setting up raising and lowering systems using ropes and pulleys, searching for downed aircraft, and navigating the hills and trails of the San Gabriel Mountains. After the mountaineering academy, they’ll train to become Emergency Medical Technicians.
SDMRT believes strongly in preventive search and rescue. To that end, the team does numerous Hug-A-Tree® presentations, which teach young children what to do if they get lost in the mountains. Team members also participate in safety fairs, parades, and many other community events.
Founded in 1955, the team is one of eight search-and-rescue teams in the county and is affiliated with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. That affiliation brings with it the opportunity to also become a reserve deputy by attending the Sheriff’s Department Reserve Academy.
SDMRT is comprised of all volunteers -- highly trained and motivated women and men dedicated to saving others. No experience is needed, and all training is provided. Mountaineer volunteers must be at least 21 years old, in good health, be a full-time student or have steady employment, and able to pass a background investigation.
If you’re interested in being a part of something great (and really, really fun), the team is hosting an informational meeting
Saturday, October 2, 9-11 a.m., and
Wednesday, October 6, 7-9 p.m. at the Mountain Rescue Station,
114 East First Street in San Dimas.
Please RSVP to our website contact page:
www.sdmrt.com/contactpage.htm
You’ll find more information about SDMRT on our Facebook page and at
www.sdmrt.com
Sergeant Matthew Bodell
San Dimas Sheriff’s Station
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
270 S. Walnut Avenue
San Dimas, CA 91773
(909) 450-2700
Website:
http://www.SanDimas.lasd.org
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Alex Villanueva, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
