Meridian Public Safety: Search and Rescue

Learning the ropes of being apart of a search and rescue team takes more than just walking around in the woods.

Today the Meridian Public Safety Training Facility are having a class on the fundamentals of search and rescue. They have instructors from all over the state of Mississippi who have come out to train using scenarios and assessments. We learn a little more from the instructors as they tell us why this class is so important.

Today is the beginning of their search and rescue training, but it also carries them to an intermediate level. said Mark Mcgavok one of the Instructors.

Today students will learn land navigation, clue finding, and tracking and rescue. One way instructors teach students how to pay attention to details is by hiding 10 playing cards in the woods in their specific areas for them to locate.

"We're tasked a lot in Mississippi with either a hurricane or an event that happens where we do a wide-area search that requires a lot of searchers. Or we're also tasked with an individual that's missing."

The Nastar class being taught is sponsored through the Mississippi office of Homeland Security Grant Funding.

"To have this here is very rare. There are only around six to eight states within the united states that are under an umbrella of Nastar that they can teach these type programs," said Doug Stephens the Public Director of Safety.

Mayor Jimme Smith even stopped by today to get an inside look at the program and to see them in action.

"I think it's a good program. We've got fire officers out here being trained at home locally. And that's a good thing."

Branching off from being a firefighter one of the students in the course Sergio Vegara is taking the fundamentals class in hopes of joining the organization.

"Being involved with the task force is something that I've been gracious to have an opportunity to do. And so this is one of the fundamental classes that you take in order to be part of the organization."