A Brief Line on the Short-Haul: Meet the Volunteers who make our Heli Go Round

Key to our helicopter program are the people who make it work. Over the next few weeks during our Heli-Yes! campaign, we'll highlight some of the men and women who volunteer on the short-haul team. First up is Will Smith, a native of Wheatland, Wyoming, and TCSAR volunteer since 2004. Smith has been on the frontline of the pandemic as an ER doctor at St. John's Health. He is also a father, a UAV-drone pilot (a skill he learned from his 14-year-old son), and a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves who served multiple deployments, including at the Al Asad, Ibn Sina/Baghdad ER in 2009, and Abu Ghraib in 2005-06. We are tremendously fortunate to have Dr. Smith among our ranks, both on the team in the community.

One of the best ways to support our volunteers like Dr. Smith is to make a donation to Heli-Yes! The program ensures expanded helicopter rescue service, and supplies the team with adequate professional training.

Photo: David Bowers

How has the pandemic affected you?
I've had to be careful and more aware of exposure from potential patients. I've also been activated with my Army Reserve hat to help support the federal and military response here in Jackson. I'm serving as the Branch Chief/Medical Director of EMS and Disaster Medicine for the U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General - G34 Mission Assurance Office. Overall we have not seen the case load and severity as other areas of the country and world.

What motivated you to become a TCSAR volunteer? 

I love being able to take my medical skills to patients in challenging environments.  As well as when we are doing training and callouts, I get to hang out with all my SAR family!

Why did you want to join the short-haul team?
Short-haul was the natural extension to reach patients in even more remote/technical terrain and provide medical care. Being able to short-haul into the cardiac arrest rescue on Maverick up in Grand Teton National Park a few years ago was a career all-time life saved. Without all the links of the 'chain of survival' and our interagency SAR team skills with short-haul, early AED deployment, well trained personal, etc., the patient would not have lived. It is a pinnacle case of what short-haul allows us to do to save people in remote/technical environments. (Note: You can hear how this dramatic story unfolds in Episode 8—"A Maverick Rescue"—of The Fine Line podcast.)

How does someone become a short-haul team member?

There are several factors that the SAR board evaluates for short-haul team members. Some of the factors are availability, speciality skills (medical, technical skills, etc.), and experience. 

What is the most challenging aspect of short-haul?

Managing all the technical components to the short-haul, ensuring 100% safety, while taking care of a patient. 

Why do you think the community should support Heli-Yes?
It is able to save a life, as described above with the Maverick incident. Without short-haul, we would not have been able to access the patient so quickly, and with cardiac arrests, seconds count.

What music are you currently listening to?
My son has been on a reggae kick, so lots of that recently.

If you had to have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Chicken and Tofu Pad Thai, with 2 stars!

This Ship Saves Lives! Please support Backcountry Safety by Donating to TCSAR Today

There is No Off-season in the
Jackson Hole Backcountry

Today, Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation is excited to kick off our annual Heli-Yes! campaign. Our goal is to raise enough money to preserve life-saving, emergency helicopter service for the community. If successful, the program ensures that Teton County maintains no gaps in emergency helicopter service, particularly during the Spring and Fall seasons.

Check out this Heli-Yes! page to get all the backcountry info on the program.

The time is now to make sure we have the tools to continue saving lives!

Why is a Rescue Heli Important?

Last year, the TCSAR helicopter helped save the lives of four people when such a rescue tool was not always available. Due to generous donations through Heli-Yes! these people were reunited with their families. One such person was Preston Reidy, a 24-year-old Telluride resident who took a road trip to Jackson with his girlfriend, Maggie, in the middle of October.

On a day hike, they set up a hammock between a couple of trees near Amphitheater Lake in Grand Teton National Park. They were relaxing among the grandeur when one of the trees broke, hit Reidy in the head, and sent him into a seizure. The TCSAR helicopter was able to extract him via short-haul right before nightfall, quickly concluding a rescue that would have taken a ground team several hours.

"Without having a helicopter in the offseason,” Reidy said, “I could’ve died or been permanently disabled.”

This rescue was just one of several in 2019 that would have been much more difficult and lengthy without a helicopter. Photos: Courtesy of Preston Reidy

Throughout the next month, the Foundation will be bringing you regular updates on Heli-Yes! including stories about survivors, profiles on TCSAR team members, and details about our essential, life-saving heli program.

“The Fine Line” recounts Grizzly Attack at Pacific Creek

After a week of trudging through more than two feet of snow chasing down elk to no avail in the Teton Wilderness, James Moore was officially Over It. Moore, a 43-year-old hunter from Rock Springs, gruffly told his brother, Jake Peasley, and friend, Brent Bongers, that he was heading back to camp. With that, he set off by himself--without his pack, without his bear spray--a decision he would soon regret. He hopped across a little creek surrounded by bushes, heard a ‘whoof!’ and seconds later was being viciously mauled by a sow grizzly bear.

On that cold afternoon of September 25, 2017, the attack left Moore severely wounded, with life-threatening punctures and lacerations across his face, arms, and torso. Roughly six miles of extremely rugged terrain separated him from desperation and the Pacific Creek trailhead. He and his hunting partners knew that they would be racing against the clock to get him out alive.

TCSAR team member Lizzie Watson (left) with Betsy and James Moore. James shares his gripping story of surviving a brutal bear attack in the Teton Wilderness in the latest episode of The Fine Line.

The hunt, attack, and fight for survival is the subject of a new episode of The Fine Line, the monthly podcast about adventure, risk, and rescue in the Jackson Hole backcountry. The episode will be released in three chapters, one each Monday starting on April 13. The Fine Line can be heard every Monday at 6 p.m. on KHOL 89.1 FM, or via SoundCloud, Backcountry Zero, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Moore shares his story in gripping detail, and takes pains to admit the mistakes he made along the way. Joining him in the cautionary—at times humorous, gory, and emotional—tale is Moore’s wife, Betsy, who received the call no one ever wants to receive, Peasley, who led Moore out of the wilderness via horseback, and Lizzie Watson, an EMT who served as medical lead during the rapid response for Teton County Search and Rescue.

“Anyone who listens to the story would progressively go along the hunt and be like, ‘Oh, c’mon man,’ and then the next thing you say, ‘Ah, you know better than that,’” Moore tells show host Rebecca Huntington. “It’s important to the story to know there were mistakes made along the way. It’s not like if you just go to the mountains you’re going to get attacked by a grizzly bear. You just have to remember what you're supposed to do, and be diligent about following those steps every day. Not just day one or day three, but every day, every hour. You have to make the right decisions, you know?”