By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Mike Canfield of Tucker County EMS and OEM Office, has announced plans to hold a Cave Search and Rescue Course in Tucker County. There will be cost of approximately $61 for the three day course, according to Canfield. Canfield said the class would be held on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. According to Canfield he is in need of 30 interested individuals in order to hold the class. “I need 30 students,” Canfield said.
Canfield said he anticipates the course to be held around February, but a lot is dependent on the availability of students as to the exact date of the course. The course will be taught by instructors from Virginia, according to Canfield.
Previously, Canfield had announced in August his intent to host a series of free search and rescue courses in Tucker County. Canfield said he hopes to eventually establish a local search and rescue team.
The free courses announced in August were:
- Land Navigation using Map and Compass
- Orienteering
- GPS
- Lost Person Behavior
- SAR Incident Command/Management
- NIMS 100, 200, 700, 800 (Done Online)
- First Aid, CPR/AED, Stop the Bleeding
- SAR Radio Communication, Ham Radio
- Clue Awareness, Tracking
- Search Strategies
- Knots
- Swift Water Awareness
- Scent Theory
- Blood-borne Pathogens
- Crime Scene Prevention
- Air Scent Canine
- Trailing Canine
- HRD Land
- HRD Water
- Drone Safety, Search Strategies with Drone
- ATV Safety, Search Strategies with ATV
- Mountain Bike Safety, Search Strategies with Mountain Bike
- Night Search Operations
- Flora/Fauna (Plant and Animal Awareness)
- Safe Water (How to make water safe to drink)
According to Canfield, interested individuals age 16 and over are eligible to participate and do not have to be associated with emergency services of any kind and there is not a Tucker County residency requirement as the class is open to anyone from anywhere who wishes to attend.
For more information on this or other Search and Rescue Courses being offered, contact Mike Canfield at 304-642-1711. Canfield said he assembling a list of interested parties for future courses, as well.
