Volunteers answer calls for help around the clock
Members respond to operations ranging from recoveries of bodies to searches for missing persons
After a long day of search-and-rescue training last summer, Gerald Osuna was ready to enjoy a Saturday night out with his family. Osuna, his wife and son had just walked into a movie theater at the Great Mall in Milpitas when duty called. A hunter who was showing signs of dehydration had become separated from friends in the rugged terrain of Mt. Hamilton.
Osuna, who has expertise in climbing and mountaineering, sprang into action. He said goodbye to his family, ran a few miles home, grabbed his truck and made his way to Lick Observatory, where he joined up with other volunteer members of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s search and rescue team.
After searching in the dark for a few hours, Osuna and another team member, Dan Carlino, located the missing hunter about 1,000 feet down a steep embankment. Osuna, one of several qualified EMTs on the search and rescue team, medically assessed the man and determined he wasn’t in a life-threatening situation. The pair stayed with the hunter until daylight and used ropes and a harness to move the man to a location where he could be lifted out by a Cal Fire helicopter.
“So many times we go in searches, we either don’t find the person, or we find them and there’s nothing we can do to help,” Osuna said. “When we do, it makes all the work and time in training that we do worth it.”
Members of the sheriff’s search and rescue team, all of whom are volunteers, are on call year-round and typically respond to about 25 operations, ranging from recoveries of bodies to searches for missing persons, both in rural and urban areas. The search and rescue team was formed in 1989 to assist city, county, state and federal agencies during emergencies and falls under the authority of Sheriff Laurie Smith.
Currently, there are about 70 members who dedicate at least 45 hours every three months, primarily on training. Most of the members have full-time jobs and spend money out of pocket on uniforms, training and equipment. There are a handful of specialty teams, including canine handlers, high-angle (any hillside with a slope more than 40 degrees) and high-altitude rescue teams, and tracking (think following footprints) teams.
The search-and-rescue team reports to the special operations division within the sheriff’s office, and also may be called to provide mu-
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