In August 1989, approximately 23 men and women from various parts of Indiana County and vicinity saw a need for a specialized unit for the field of Search and Rescue. These people formed a team know as Evergreen Search & Rescue Team 600 of Indiana County. The team name came from Indiana County being know as “the Christmas Tree Capital of the World.”
The 23 members trained in the field of Wilderness Search and Rescue. After becoming certified they now knew the basics of map reading, compass reading and cardinal direction. These members also became “clue aware.” To many, a broken branch means nothing, but to our members it is a clue. Some of the members went to a training course taught by a retired Texas Border Patrol officer and the best known man tracker, Mr. Ab Taylor. Our members were taught how to follow each step that a person made even if there is a footprint with great definition missing.
The vast majority received additional training from D.E.R. in the art of Search Management. This taught our members how to do map sectoring and how to make accurate probability of detection. The old way of just joining hands and walking through the woods has gone by the wayside. The team managers now have the knowledge to set up a proper and successful search operation and command post.
Some other types of special teams on Team 600 consist of Field Teams and Containment Teams. In the Field Teams Division we have Open Grid Teams, Closed Grid Teams and Hasty Teams. All three have their own special place and operation within the search mission.
Several members of the team went at their own expense and purchased Search Canines. These canines have the ability of air scenting, tracking/trailing human scent. These canines have been extensively trained for the sole purpose of Search and Rescue for Team 600. The owners of the canines keep them at their homes and take on the expense and duty of the needs of the canines. These canines are the owner’s pet and all have a very good temperament and have passed a test designed by Team 600. Our canines work from a scent article (actual clothing worn by the missing person) or from a point last seen.
We have been deployed on hundred’s of searches. The missions range throughout the state of Pennsylvania and into Shadyside Ohio for the 1990 flood. The team also is know in New York, New Jersey and West Virginia and was on alert for the Oklahoma City bombing and the World Trade Center on 9/11.
—An excerpt from “What Is E.S.A.R.?” by Randy Compardo