In two separate training classes in November, members of the Macon County Rescue Squad completed certification or re-certification training in life saving skills.

A 16-hour Vehicle Extrication re-certification class was conducted November 14-15 for 12 squad members.

These re-cert classes are designed to keep those persons who perform vehicle extrication current on technology, skills and techniques so that they can safely and expertly extract persons from vehicles when the need arises.

The class consisted of about eight hours of classroom time and eight full hours at Barry Newberry’s salvage yard cutting up real vehicles staged in realistic accident scenarios.

Vehicle roll-over accidents are very common here in Macon County due to our hilly terrain and twisty roads. Macon County is fortunate to have this number of people certified and trained in this important life saving skill.

Members recertifying were; Don Stevens, Todd Wagoner, Jeff Owen,

Barry Cothron, Joseph Tuck, Michael Slayton, Joey Smith, Philip Smith, Matt Cross, Daniel Driver, Michael Bransford and Dewayne Whittemore.

The class was taught by David Cross.

In a separate training course that same weekend, Constable Tom Dallas who is a member of the rescue squad, completed a 40 hour Rural Search and Rescue Operations and Technician course at the Tennessee Fire and Codes Enforcement Academy in Bell Buckle, TN.

Constable Dallas attended the first 20 hour, Operations level course back in June of this year and finished the second 20 hours November 13-15.

This SAR course focused upon the techniques and skills required to develop search plans and search methodology for people lost in rural or wilderness areas. Topics included, wilderness rescue, rope rescue, map/compass orienteering, lost person behavior and visual tracking.

Visual tracking is the core component of this course and requires that searchers track humans through wilderness terrain by the use of visual clues (called sign). These include tracks, disturbed vegetation, dropped items and other sign caused by the lost person in the passage through such areas. This course consisted of about 10 hours of classroom work and 30 hours of actual map/compass navigation and real tracking of humans on the 300-acre Fire Academy facility.

This course was developed by the Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads and is offered through their Rescue College. Completion of this course certifies Constable Dallas at the SAR Technician Level and places him among only about 300 people in the State of Tennessee with this level of training and skills.