Advanced Recovery and Training Course

The Advanced Recovery and Rescue Class was also a big hit.  Over 40 Trail Guides, helpers and members showed up on a cold rainy day.  We almost cancelled the scenarios with the Fire Departments and Air-Evac but the weather got a little better in the afternoon.  We had a lot of issues and things that went wrong, but we learned much.  The biggest problem was calling 911, getting a cell site in Missouri, and Pike County, MO, dispatch was unable to notify Pike County, IL.  As a result, we are going to publish the Pike County Sheriff's Office number and ask TRJC members to use that and NOT to use 911 in an emergency. 

As part of the exercise, the New Canton and Pleasant Hill Fire Departments responded as did the Air-Evac helicopter from Quincy.  The rescue drill went without a hitch once the call was made to the Pike County, IL, Sheriff's Department.

Afterwards we had a debriefing with the rescue teams and learned much about what we could do differently.  The 30 or so responders also agreed this was an excellent exercise. We  then had a nice warm meal and finished the day knowing we had made a major impact on the folks that attended the drill.

Two Rivers Jeep Club would like to thank all those who participated in the rescue drill on May 1, especially the Pleasant Hill and New Canton Fire Departments, the Pike County Sheriff’s department and the Air Evac Lifeteam. The response time was excellent and the care and professionalism of everyone who participated in this drill was outstanding. With two major events coming up this spring and summer, Two Rivers will be drawing over 1000 people to Pittsfield and Pike County. While it is our hope that there will be no incidents, we have confidence that any of the Pike County emergency services would be able to more than adequately respond and deal with any situation. We also wish to thank the Rockport Off-Road Park for the use of their facilities for this training exercise. Again, thanks to all who participated in this drill – and thanks to all those emergency services in Pike County that spend their time training and preparing to protect and serve the public when they are needed.