PAUL SMITHS - The Paul Smith's College VIC recently played host to a multi-agency search and rescue training excercise.

Eighteen first responders from seven organizations participated in the Joint Agency Exercise on Feb. 22. It involved locating an injured person using GPS coordinates, assessing the individual for injury, treating the person as appropriate and transporting him or her to a waiting EMS rescue squad service.

The agencies that participated included Search and Rescue of the Northern Adirondacks (SARNAK), state Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers, Adirondack Amateur Radio Association, Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad, Paul Smiths-Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department, Franklin County Emergency Dispatch, and staff from the VIC.

First responders tend to a patient during a Feb. 22 search and rescue training excercise at the Paul Smiths College VIC. (Photo Hannah Brogan)

Participants in a search and rescue training excercise at the Paul Smiths College VIC pose with their safely recovered patient in front of the mobile field command center. (Photo Barry Brogan)

State Forest Ranger Tom Edmunds points to a trail map at the Paul Smiths College VIC during a Feb. 22 search and rescue training excercise. (Photo Hannah Brogan)

First responders carry a patient during a search and rescue training excercise Feb. 22 at the Paul Smiths College VIC. (Photo Hannah Brogan)

"This was a great exercise at a great venue, and we want to thank Brian McDonnell and his staff at the VIC," SARNAK training officer Frank Schmidt said in a press release. "The VIC has an extensive trail system, which we were able to use to kind of 'hide' our injured volunteer. Once our patient was in place they used a cell phone to call 911 and ask for help."

Using the the Franklin County 911 system, the dispatcher contacted the DEC rangers and was able to give an approximate GPS location of the phone call, Schmidt explained. Once received, the GPS coordinates were plotted, and the patient's location was marked on a topographical map. That map was then compared with the VIC's trail system map, giving the first responders a good idea of where the person was and how best to get to them.

A key component of the exercise was to make sure all involved agencies had a communication link to the incident. Generally that meant radio communication, but it also included limited use of cellphones. An elaborate communication network was set up and tested by the Adirondack Amateur Radio Association using their mobile emergency communications bus.

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Paul Smith's VIC hosts search and rescue training