What is YOSAR?
Yosemite Search and Rescue, or YOSAR for short, is a group of individuals who perform search and rescue in the park. YOSAR is made up of a variety of different individuals throughout the park including dedicated SAR staff, Law Enforcement Rangers, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Climbing Rangers, and the SAR site team members, who make up the core of YOSAR.
The YOSAR team relies on the skills of its team members in multiple different disciplines to conduct search and rescues in the park.
What are some of your Rescue Methods?
Yosemite National Park Averages 250 Search and Rescue incidents a year. These incidents include everything from a broken ankle on the Mist Trail to a big wall rescue on El Capitan. Depending on the location and the severity of the injury, YOSAR uses different methods to extract patients from the backcountry.
Types of Rescue Methods:
Crutch Out: A crutch out is used for patients with lower leg injuries who are able to bear some weight, to help “self extricate” themselves from the backcountry.
Litter Carryout: A wheeled litter carryout is one of the more common rescue methods used by YOSAR. The SAR team will load a patient into a metal stretcher known as a “litter”. A large wheel is then attached to the bottom, and the patient is able to be carried down the trail, with the wheel taking the majority of the weight. Litter carryouts typically require 6-10 responders, but remain a safe effective way to evacuate patients.
Horse Out: In some instances, YOSAR will use a horse or a mule to help extract someone from the backcountry. These “horse outs” are typically used for subjects with lower leg injuries who are unable to walk. The injured subject is assisted onto the back of a horse or mule, who carries them down a trail led by a ranger.
Helicopter Rescue: YOSAR uses helicopters to perform rescues across the park. In the summer months, the park has a helicopter, known as “551” , staffed at the Crane Flat Helibase. This helicopter is used to land and extract patients in remote backcountry locations, as well as short haul rescues. In a short haul, a rescuer is attached to a 250 foot line beneath the helicopter. The pilot then guides the helicopter and the rescuer underneath into place to extract a patient. YOSAR has developed special techniques for using helicopters in big wall rescues to extract patients in vertical terrain. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is one of the other helicopters used by the park for rescue missions.
How much training does YOSAR do?
Specific training types:
It takes a lot of training to be able to perform complex search and rescue operations. Team members train throughout the year in different disciplines. Each year there are initial and refresher training for all the different rescue disciplines.
Technical Rope Rescue:
Every year, team members go through a 40 hour technical rope rescue training. Team members practice building anchors, rigging rescue systems, and lowering attendants to a simulated patient, and raising them back up. During this course YOSAR practices in multiple different areas in the park simulating the variety of different technical rescues that take place.
Swiftwater Rescue:
Swiftwater rescue training is a 30 hour course that teaches team members how to safely operate in swiftwater environments. YOSAR members learn swimming skills and how to navigate rapids, as well as multiple rescue techniques including throw bags, swimmer rescues, and using watercraft to rescue someone in the river. Yosemite is home to miles of rivers with highly technical complex rapids.
EMS (Emergency Medical Services):
Most of the YOSAR team has some level of emergency medical training. Initial EMS training is completed outside the park, but annually, YOSAR members undergo 24 hours of continuing education training to stay sharp on their medical skills. Yosemite has three different levels of EMS providers, EMTs, Park Medics, and Paramedics. EMTs perform basic life support including splinting, bleeding control, and oxygen administration. Park Medics attend a 250 hour training course through UCSF Fresno in order to perform additional advanced skills such as IVs and drug administration. Paramedics undergo 1,000 hours of initial training and clinicals and are the highest level of prehospital care. Yosemite Paramedics can perform advanced skills such as IVs, medication delivery, EKG interpretation, and intubation. Yosemite EMS providers can bring advanced levels of medical care to patients in remote backcountry environments. In addition to responding to SAR incidents, many of the YOSAR team help staff frontcountry ambulances across the park.