BOZEMAN — In order to bring the lost and injured home safely, search and rescue teams often have to prepare for remote and dangerous conditions.
"Backcountry search calls are not uncommon for us here in Gallatin County. We’ve done a lot of them in past," says Search and Rescue Training Coordinator Jason Revisky.
"And typically, if we know someone is alive and we’re just trying to hone in on their location, our teams will endure some pretty ugly weather conditions to get there," he says.
Revisky says the first step of any search effort is gathering intel.
"Our deputies do a really good job of figuring out what someone’s last known location was and what their plan was for their excursion," he says.
Intel can range from acquiring details of safety devices like a Garmin to their communications team working on cellphone forensics.
Revisky adds, "And we work with the Air Force and the FBI in order to find breadcrumbs coming from that device. And even when someone’s not in cell service, some of these other agencies that we work with have the ability to follow that."
Revisky says the next step is determining the means of search.
SAR can utilize helicopter teams, ground teams, search dogs, and even drones with thermal imaging capabilities for night searches.
"Our helicopters can’t fly at night and search, so we will utilize other agencies to assist with that," he says.
This is when search and rescue partners become vital. Such as helicopter teams like Two Bear Air from Kalispell and Billings Clinic—whose helicopters have night vision capabilities.
Search and rescue can be a difficult undertaking and Revisky says, despite many successful search efforts, sometimes things don’t end the way you hope.
"It’s stressful just being on a mission like that," he says, "and it’s stressful working with the families to bring closure to an incident like that and as a team, we just try to support each other and make sure everybody is taken care of."
