The Nov-Dec, 2013 issue of the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit's "Rescue" magazine is online

The November/December 2013 issue of Rescue, published by the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit (IMSARU) in Boise, Idaho, has just been uploaded to the Net.

A founding member of the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA), IMSARU has been publishing Rescue since 1962—an impressive 52 years.

IN THIS ISSUE: Check out Jimmie Yorgensen's 3-page mission report on the month-long search for two women at Craters of the Moon National Monument, which involved extremely difficult terrain:

There are thousands of caves and tunnels where a person could have taken shelter and not be seen from the surface, brushy gullies, thin “bridges” of lava that give way under a person’s weight, always unstable footing, and challenging access once searchers left the developed areas.

Read it here.

Innovative Florida SAR unit builds their own drone for search missions

If you're interested in learning more about how drones—or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—can be used by a SAR team like yours, check out what the Peace River K9 Search & Rescue Association (PRSAR) of Englewood, Florida is up to.

For months, I've been following their progress in building a drone from scratch and it's pretty cool.

They're putting together a multi-mission-capable SAR UAS X81 aerial recon platform equipped with a live feed video-and-mapping camera.

In addition to chronicling the weekly progress of their new drone SAR unit, their Facebook page is one of the best portals into the world of drones that I've come across to date. These guys and gals are on the cutting edge. Check them out here. 

Here's a few shots of Peace River's SAR UAS X81 drone being prepped on its launcher by Richard Hyland, a K9 handler and private pilot with PRSAR. Photos courtesy of Michael Hadsell, a commercial-rated pilot and administrator of PRSAR's Facebook page.