Teton County Search & Rescue Responds to Four Callouts in Two Days

Jackson, Wyo. — Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers were called to respond to four callouts in two days last week, continuing what has so far been a very busy summer of rescues. On Friday morning, July 29, the team was alerted to a pair of missing horseback riders in the Teton Wilderness north of Turpin Meadows. Later that afternoon, the team got another call about an injured horseback rider in the Gros Ventre Mountains. Then on Saturday, July 30, the volunteers responded to a woman who’d been injured while riding her mountain bike on the Mill Creek Trail of Teton Canyon. About 90 minutes later, there was another callout to help an injured hiker in Phillips Canyon. 

TCSAR volunteers transport an injured mountain biker down the Mill Creek Trail in Teton Canyon on Saturday, July 30. Photo: TCSAR

The weekend tally means the team has now responded to 30 calls for service since June 1. This surpasses the call rate during the same time frame from a year ago, when the team had responded to 24 calls. The 30 calls since June 1 is the most since at least 2012.

In the first mission on Friday, TCSAR was notified that a pair of horseback riders had left Turpin Meadows on Thursday to go for a half-day ride but failed to return before nightfall. The team was paged at 5 a.m. Friday to initiate a response. The team put in a request for the interagency helicopter to conduct an aerial search. A sheriff deputy and ground-based TCSAR team was also dispatched to the trailhead to see if they could find the missing subjects’ vehicle. The vehicle was still at the trailhead, along with paper maps on the dash. Meanwhile, the heli request was granted, and two SAR members were flown over the area in question to see if they could spot the missing horse riders. At 12:30 p.m., the horseback riders were eventually located, uninjured, about one mile north of Soda Fork and the North Buffalo Fork. They were lost and had spent a cold night out in the woods but were otherwise OK. They exited the backcountry on their own power and notified TCSAR when they reached their vehicle. 

TCSAR volunteers scan the backcountry from the interagency helicopter in search of two missing horseback riders on July 29. The horse riders were found and uninjured, albeit a little lost. Photo: TCSAR

The Turpin Meadows operation was the eighth interagency helicopter mission by TCSAR volunteers this summer. Because TCSAR does not have a helicopter on contract in the summer, they must go through Teton Helitack to have a helicopter released for rescues in Teton County. The helicopter may be released if it’s available and not being used for another purpose. TCSAR is grateful for the Teton Helitack partnership that allows the team to conduct these helicopter missions.

Later that Friday afternoon, at 3:39 p.m., the volunteers were paged to respond to a woman who had fallen from her horse near Goosewing Ranch. TCSAR responded by driving a truck up the Gros Ventre Road. They located the patient, treated her injuries, and helped her to a waiting ambulance at the trailhead. The incident involved 12 volunteers and took 3 hours, 54 minutes. 

At 11:20 a.m. on Saturday, the team was alerted to a female mountain biker who had crashed about a mile up the Mill Creek Trail in Teton Canyon. Five volunteers drove over Teton Pass to the trailhead and hiked up the trail to locate the patient, who was complaining of severe pain in her lower leg. The team packaged her for transport in the wheeled litter and brought her down the trail to a waiting ambulance. That incident involved 10 volunteers and 4 hours to complete.

As that rescue was in progress, the team was called to assist a woman who’d become injured while hiking in Phillips Canyon. The woman had reportedly fallen while crossing a log bridge. Two TCSAR volunteers who were originally driving to the Mill Creek rescue were diverted directly to the Phillips Bench, along with a truck with more team members. The vehicles drove up the powerline two-track and hiked in about 1.5 miles with the wheeled litter and medical supplies. The volunteers packaged the patient, and wheeled her on the litter back to the RZR. From there, the team drove her to the trailhead to a waiting ambulance. This mission had 16 volunteers and came to a close after 3 hours, 57 minutes.

—About TCSAR and TCSAR Foundation: Teton County Search & Rescue was started in 1993 by the Teton County Sheriff’s Office to provide vital emergency search and rescue services for Teton County and surrounding areas to those in need. The TCSAR Foundation supports TCSAR volunteers through direct support, community education and advocacy. Together, we create an organization that works to keep Teton County residents and visitors safe in the backcountry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Hughes Charitable Foundation Recognizes TCSAR

The Hughes Charitable Foundation has recognized Teton County Search & Rescue with a great story detailing the team’s extraordinary commitment to the community. Read the entire post by clicking the button below.

Thank you to the Hughes Charitable Foundation for their incredible support for our volunteers!

JHN&G Editorial Board: “Support the SAR Ship”

On July 20, 2022, the Jackson Hole News & Guide Editorial Board weighed in on Teton County Search & Rescue’s campaign to purchase a year-round SAR-dedicated helicopter. The link to the article is below. But we also want to take this opportunity to shed light on how TCSAR operates to help place this campaign into the larger context of SAR operations.

The JHN&G Editorial Board writes that it would be “wise to get out of the rental gamble” by purchasing a year-round SAR helicopter rather than leasing one for eight months. Photo: David Bowers

The campaign, known as Mission Critical (SAR terminology for a life-or-death scenario), was presented the week prior to the Teton County Board of Commissioners. The campaign calls for the TCSAR Foundation to raise the money necessary to purchase an Airbus H125 helicopter and then hand it over to Teton County. Annual operations would continue to be funded by the Teton County Sheriff’s Office through the county’s normal budgeting process. This is the same budgeting process that has funded TCSAR’s annual operations since its inception in 1993. But instead of funding the current eight months for a helicopter lease (about $350,000 annually), the county would budget for 12 months (about $500,00-600,000 annually).

It’s important to point out that all rescues performed by TCSAR are free of charge, and that the cost of those rescues are reimbursed by the state of Wyoming or National Park Service. Those reimbursements go directly back to the county, not the Foundation. In 2021, those reimbursements totaled around $99,000.

Only a handful of states currently allow people to be charged for rescues to varying degrees. Wyoming does not charge for rescues. In our own county, there is no legal mechanism for the Sheriff or SAR team to collect reimbursement from a private individual who has been rescued. Changing this system would require years-long efforts to persuade the state legislature to adopt a new statute for the entire state.

Meanwhile, callouts for TCSAR continue to occur at a record pace—meaning the team has to figure out how to solve these problems today. Just in the last month, TCSAR has had to request the interagency helicopter from Teton Helitack seven times. Because TCSAR does not have a ship on contract from June 1 to October 1, the team must get these heli requests approved by federal agencies, which are busy fighting fires and doing their own rescues in Grand Teton National Park. Without these requests being approved, the accidents we’ve seen this summer could have had drastic, life-altering consequences.

In states like Utah and Colorado, SAR cards help defray some cost to SAR teams, but by and large, counties in those states still don’t charge for rescues. Essentially, the cards are a great way for people to express their support for Search & Rescue services, but the cards don’t act as insurance or intend to cover the full cost of every individual rescue.

In Wyoming, SAR funding comes from the sales of hunting and fishing licenses, grants, and voluntary donations. In Teton County, TCSAR is additionally blessed to have such generous community support through events like Old Bill’s.

TCSAR volunteers conduct an interagency helicopter rescue earlier this summer. If the ship is busy or unavailable due to use by federal agencies, the team does not have a helicopter available from June-October. Photo: TCSAR

National Parks, such as Grand Teton and Yellowstone, do not charge for rescues. As TCSAR works hand-in-hand with these federal agencies, having a different model would add layers of confusion and proverbial red tape to the recreating public and the rescuers themselves.

Moreover, charging people for rescues discourages or delays people from calling for help. Delaying a call for help can cause needless danger in a rescue, or unnecessarily complicate a search for a missing party. This can lead to potentially compromising scenarios for both the patient and rescuers who may be called later when the situation is worse. (This is an excellent video from Alpine Rescue Team in Colorado further explaining why this policy is so important.)

TCSAR is run by volunteers and built on a public/private partnership to serve locals and visitors alike. With the Sheriff’s Office funding annual operations, TCSAR Foundation raises money for direct volunteer support (such as gear, training, meals, and mental health support) through private donations. With backcountry recreation in Teton County forming a significant part of our region’s economic and cultural backbone, TCSAR and the Foundation believe that funding a voluntary SAR service helps sustain a healthy community for everyone.

We appreciate the Editorial Board’s perspective on this campaign, and look forward to continuing to share information about SAR operations and how a year-round SAR helicopter will be a valuable asset for the entire community. There will be a lot more to come on this campaign in the future. So please stay tuned and learn more here.

To read the Editorial, go here or click on the button below. Thank you to our partnering agencies who help our team bring people home safely. And thank you for supporting TCSAR.