Garfield County Search and Rescue will hold its monthly training session Saturday at Sutey Ranch on Red Hill, simulating a remote rescue of an injured mountain biker.

The training, hosted in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and the Red Hill Council, aims to sharpen communication, improve patient assessments, and strengthen coordination with partner agencies.

“The purpose of the training is to work on our communication, our speed, our thoroughness of patient assessment and working with our partners in the valley to provide quick,

effective extraction if we need to,” GCSAR volunteer Denise Abate said. 

Abate said the plan is to stage all-terrain vehicles halfway through the trail, then hike the 1.5 to two miles to the patient with a wheeled stretcher to further simulate a real life rescue mission. They will retrieve the patient, hike back to the ATVs, then drive the remaining distance to the hypothetical ambulance or air transport.

“It’s really exciting to be able to partner with different agencies and practice something that could really happen in our valley,” she said. 

Sutey Ranch, a relatively new section of trails in Garfield County, is located on the backside of the ever-popular Red Hill. The four-miles of backcountry hiking and biking trail can connect to

She noted that the growing number of trail users throughout the county over the past decade creates even more necessity for GCSAR being prepared for everything. 

“As more people use our trails, we need to work more together to get people out.”

To go along with providing the county with around-the-clock emergency services year-round, GCSAR has also been adapting medical technology to help patients in the field before reaching further medical help — much like ski patrol. 

Alongside pelvic binders and traction splints, GCSAR now uses vacuum splints to immobilize broken limbs. Filled with air and tiny plastic beads, the splints mold around the injury, providing support and reducing pressure as the air is removed.

“We want to make (the patient) as comfortable as possible,” Abate said. “We work with ER docs on trauma injuries, using stuff like traction splints, and pelvic binders. We’ll be practicing that as well as packaging so that we don’t do any more damage to the patient.”
For more information about GCSAR, visit their website garfieldcountysar.com.