Marion County Search and Rescue hosted our biannual All Unit Training (AUT) where all SAR members including each specialty team train together.  Specialty teams included Adult and Youth Ground Teams, Chuckwagon (meals), and Jeep Patrol (off-road), Communications, and our Sheriff’s Office Overhead Team (Incident Command). AUTs range from mock searches to skills testing stations. This year we took advantage of the inclement winter weather as an opportunity for winter survival training!

Approximately 6 inches of snow fell over the weekend as three teams spent the night in make shift shelters large enough to accomodate the team plus additional space for injured patients. Teams had to work together to ensure their shelters were suitable for surviving a night of subfreezing temperatures, wet snow conditions, and cold wind at night. SAR members are expected to be self-sufficient for at least 24 hours meaning they carry all the survival tools they need including food, water, and shelter.