New avalanche rescue equipment may save lives
SNOHOMISH, Wash. - It was a stormy winter day in January 2008 when an avalanche swept away four children in the Cascade Mountains, including a 13-year-old Mukilteo girl who didn't make it out alive.
Gary Yonaka of Everett Mountain Rescue still remembers that tragic day.
But now he and other members of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office and Everett Mountain Rescue have more tools to help search and find avalanche victims.
The new tools could make winter treks into the snow safer, and it can be used from the air, which can dramatically search times.
On Saturday, Snohomish County rescue personnel showed KOMO News their new equipment, which could save lives in future avalanches.
Chief Pilot Bill Quistorf says a new avalanche beacon antenna can cover a search area the size of a football field.
But in order for the $3,000 antenna to work, skiers and climbers have to have a tracking device that puts out a signal so rescuers can find them.
"Before we got this equipment, in order to find somebody, if they had an avalanche beacon we had to send a ground crew out there," Quistorf says.
Rescuers also have a Recco detector that was donated by the manufacturer. It can detect sensors in some outdoor equipment and clothing.
"Our safety is better because of the helicopter search - but it's also speed-involved, being able to get on scene quicker," says Yonaka.
The new gear may not have saved the young girl from Mukilteo, because she wasn't wearing an avalanche beacon and was found by probing, educated guesses and searching.
But it could save the next person.
Gary Yonaka of Everett Mountain Rescue still remembers that tragic day.
But now he and other members of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office and Everett Mountain Rescue have more tools to help search and find avalanche victims.
The new tools could make winter treks into the snow safer, and it can be used from the air, which can dramatically search times.
On Saturday, Snohomish County rescue personnel showed KOMO News their new equipment, which could save lives in future avalanches.
Chief Pilot Bill Quistorf says a new avalanche beacon antenna can cover a search area the size of a football field.
But in order for the $3,000 antenna to work, skiers and climbers have to have a tracking device that puts out a signal so rescuers can find them.
"Before we got this equipment, in order to find somebody, if they had an avalanche beacon we had to send a ground crew out there," Quistorf says.
Rescuers also have a Recco detector that was donated by the manufacturer. It can detect sensors in some outdoor equipment and clothing.
"Our safety is better because of the helicopter search - but it's also speed-involved, being able to get on scene quicker," says Yonaka.
The new gear may not have saved the young girl from Mukilteo, because she wasn't wearing an avalanche beacon and was found by probing, educated guesses and searching.
But it could save the next person.