The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Search and Rescue Team once again received high marks for its work in high-risk, life-saving scenarios at an annual Mountain Rescue Association re-accreditation, members said this week.  The annual training event rotates among three different rescue disciplines that are common scenarios for the team of reserve deputies, like Tony Buttitta, the team’s captain, and other high-risk volunteers.  The Mountain Rescue Association certifies teams that successfully complete the challenges, which rotate each year: this year, it was tracking and searching for a missing person; last year, ice and snow work; in 2023, a cliff-side scenario.   “The team was required to search for a missing person using ground and command post search techniques,” Buttitta wrote in an email Wednesday. “This includes tracking footprints and looking for signs of the missing person.”  The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Search and Rescue Team once again received high marks for its work in high-risk, life-saving scenarios at an annual Mountain Rescue Association re-accreditation, members said this week. Just like in a real missing-person scenario, the team relayed information back to a command post that also provided assistance with the mission.   “The team was also required to do a grid search to look for evidence of a possible crime,” he added.   While the events over March 15-16 were for training, the dozens of calls the team handles each year aren’t. There were 90 callouts for the team in 2023 and 77 last year, according to Search and Rescue Team data.  The situations range from a hiker or group lost on a trail to a vehicle that goes hundreds of feet down a cliff, to people trapped by fire, flooding, mudslides, snow and more.  One of the areas where the SCV group received particularly high marks is for how well it worked together, said Justin Miyahira, a team member who’s also head of public safety at Six Flags Magic Mountain.  The team went through its training evolution in about 90 minutes, he said, which was aided by good communication, and technology.  An “injured person” was in the wilderness and needed to be found, Miyahira said, so the team had to use information like the person’s shoe type to track them. The team also had the ability to ping the person’s cellphone, and when the person is in an area that has reception, it can help provide a search radius.  The simulated patient ultimately was transported to safety strapped to what Search and Rescue Team officials call “a basket.”   “It went really well for our team,” he added. “We were told that we were one of the most efficient teams when it comes to tracking and searching for lost individuals.”  The SCV Sheriff’s Foundation is a major supporter of the SRT, which is funded completely through community donations. For information on getting involved, visit SCVrescue.org.  The post Search and Rescue Team certified as ready for action  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal. ...read more read less