Search-and-rescue volunteers fueled by thrill of adventure

Jace Radke

Sunday, May 7, 2000 | 8:23 a.m.

Flames from a fatal airplane crash illuminated the night sky as Eric Nebiker gingerly picked his way down from the summit of Gass Peak Mountain.

"It was like being on the face of the moon while it was on fire," Nebiker said. "It was a very uneasy surreal feeling as we made our way through the wreckage checking for survivors."

Nebiker doesn't climb around on flaming mountaintops in his day job as a computer jockey making maps for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, but he gets more than his fair share of adventure as a volunteer with the Metro Police search and rescue team.

Nebiker was one of two rescuers who helicoptered up to the Sheep Mountain range when a mail plane crashed into the top of Gass Peak in October.

"We got up there and it was pretty steep, and you had the sound of the helicopter above you and the heat from the fire. It was pretty hairy," Nebiker said. "You don't have time to think about anything other than what you're doing when you're in a situation like that. It's when you get down that you start thinking about your wife and kids and wondering about what you just did."

Like police officers, paramedics and firefighters, the 60 search and rescue volunteers are expected to routinely work in dangerous situations. The difference is that the volunteers are only compensated with adrenaline for the 125 rescues a year they respond to, Metro Sgt. Clint Bassett said.

"We have emergency services people that are in high-adrenaline jobs, and need something with the same kind of rush," Bassett said. "Then there are those that run a computer all day long and are looking to get out and help the community, while getting outside and doing something exciting."

Pete Carlo, a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie who works as a paramedic for American Medical Response, says he gets all the compensation he needs for his volunteer gig.

"One time I got a real nice pair of gloves, and then there was the time they gave us a pair of socks," Carlo said. "We don't do this to get paid,"

About $3.6 million a year is budgeted for Metro's air support unit and search and rescue team. The bulk of that goes toward maintaining the department's six helicopters and to pay the salaries of the 11 pilots, six search and rescue officers, Bassett and unit Lt. Dwight Mahan.

The only rewards the volunteers get are 10 gallons of gas per rescue and a few pieces of equipment like helmets, jumpsuits and a duffel bag.

"With the price of gas going up so high it's like we got a raise," volunteer Mike Malony said. "That 10 gallons is worth a little more now."

The volunteers put in about 200 hours of training and average 100 hours of actual rescue time a year, Bassett said.

"I'd guess someone with the skills these people have would probably make at least $30 an hour. Multiply that by the 18,000 hours a year that this group puts in, and you're getting close to $5 million a year. The volunteers are a big money-saver for the department."

Constantly on call, volunteers must be able to shift out of their everyday lives and into rescue mode at a moment's notice.

Whether it's church, taking their kids to baseball practice or just working at their day job the rescuers usually drop whatever they are doing when they get a page from Bassett.

"They know if they go to the movies with their spouse they better make sure there is cab fare home because they may be called to a rescue," Bassett said. "I've left my wife in two or three movies myself.

"None of these people are retired and they all have families, but when I send out a page, there is an instant reprioritization with them."

The volunteers work as carpenters, electricians, school teachers and bankers among other careers. Steve Ross is a safety specialist with the Las Vegas Water District and doesn't hesitate when he gets a rescue page.

"My job at the water district comes first, but my bosses understand that when the page comes I have to go," Ross said. "I was a full-time student at UNLV, and I'd get calls and have to miss classes. It just goes with being part of the team."

Maloney, who hopes to get into the police academy this summer, usually isn't the first one to a rescue scene even though he jumps into his car when his pager goes off.

"I live out in Henderson so when I get a page for a rescue in Red Rock, I usually get there, and the sergeant is standing at the bottom of the hill saying they already went up," Maloney said. "Sometimes I'm first if its on my side of town, but otherwise I might as well bring the coffee."

The volunteers are being called on more and more frequently as Las Vegas continues to grow, Bassett said. The Metro rescue team only responded to 18 emergencies in 1987 when the unit was first formed. Now the team averages more than two operations a week.

Because of the recent number of rescues at Red Rock Canyon, the Bureau of Land Management and Metro Search and Rescue are hosting a safety day Thursday for the media, which will feature demonstrations by the volunteers.

The volunteer job is year round, but a majority of the calls come in the spring and summer months when tourists and locals take to area hiking trails.

"We're going into our busy season now," Carlo said at a recent training exercise simulating a rescue on Sunrise Mountain. "We run into problems with the people that go out on a picnic, wander off and then notice it's getting dark and they can't get down the way they came up."

Every member of the team is at least certified as an Emergency Medical Technician or EMT, and some are qualified as paramedics or nurses.

About half of the volunteers are part of the mountain rescue unit while the others help with logistics, diving operations or handle bloodhounds.

The mountain team trains twice a month doing helicopter insertions into Red Rock Canyon or onto Sunrise Mountain and honing their climbing skills in different types of terrain and weather.

Gary Knapp brings not only his mountaineering skills to the team, but he is also called on to scuba dive for evidence in man-made lakes and ponds in area parks.

Knapp, 57, a criminal investigator for the public defender's office, compares the team's skills to those of military units he has served with.

"I retired as a career military man in 1991, and I had done special ops, jumped out of planes, you name it, but this is probably one of the best trained, most highly motivated groups I've been with," Knapp said.

The team's training was put to an endurance test two years ago when two teenagers were stranded in a particularly rugged section of Red Rock.

"It was one of those days where there was snow and wind so there were no helicopters available," Knapp said. "It took us six hours of straight climbing to get to a position above where they were.

"We couldn't get down to them in the dark, so we had to wait on the top of the mountain for three or four hours until the sun came up. The wind was really blowing and we were wet with perspiration from the climb, and that made for a pretty uncomfortable night."

A rescuer was eventually lowered to the two teens, who were hauled up and safely taken down the mountain.

"I'm an adrenaline junkie from my military days, but I also do this for altruistic reasons," Knapp said. "It feels pretty good looking into a parent's face after you save their 14- or 15-year-old kid."

Electrician Matt Fitzpatrick and Flight for Life helicopter nurse Donna Fitzpatrick first met on a mountain rescue 14 years ago and have since tied the knot.

"We like to get outside, and we both believe in volunteerism so this was perfect for us," Donna Fitzpatrick said. "It doesn't hurt that sometimes you get an E ticket ride out of the deal."

Nebiker says that for all of the seriousness and stress that comes with the job he volunteers simply because it's fun.

"This group is high speed and low drag," Nebiker said. "It's a privilege and a responsibility, but it is also unbelievably fun.

"One of the search and rescue officers said it best when he said, 'We're doing stuff people make movies about.' "

Jace Radke is a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-2318 or by e-mail at jace@lasvegassun.com.

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