Search And Rescue

A Glendale woman was found safe Friday after two search and rescue teams scoured the mountains for her. Sizanush Migzanyan, 23, walked away from the Buckhorn Camping grounds Thursday afternoon clad in shorts, a summer top and flip-flop sandals after apparently arguing with her mother, said Mike Leum, a member of the Montrose search-and-rescue team. The team, along with the Antelope Valley search-and-rescue team, was called out to search for Migzanyan about 6 p.m., and with several hours' start on the search teams, dogs were called out to help find her. Leum was assigned to work with a bloodhound named Betty, who immediately smelled Migzanyan's scent on one path, he said.

Search and Rescue team member has been recognized for his three decades of service.GLENDALE -- John McKently gets paid $1 a year -- 77 cents after taxes -- for saving lives. And he's helped saved a lot of people. It's not about the money. McKently has a regular job that pays the bills -- and then there is his work with the Montrose Search and Rescue Team. "It sounds so trite -- you want to give back to the community or whatever -- but hey, some people do the Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club, or the PTA. I do the rescue team," McKently, 54, said.

Karen S. Kim DOWNTOWN -- Santa Claus is hosting a special guest at the Glendale Galleria on Saturday: a 4-year-old black Labrador named Abby. Abby, an advanced certified disaster search dog, helped her handler, Debra Tosch, during the search-and-rescue efforts at the World Trade Center in New York. The canine will help kick off the Galleria's Pet Photos with Santa event from 9 to 11 a.m. Customers are invited to bring along their pets to sit on Santa's lap at Santa's Holiday Bake Shoppe in the mall to take a holiday photo.

For his ?extraordinary and courageous actions? while on a climbing trip on Mt. Rainier in July 2007, Montrose Search and Rescue member Mike Leum was awarded the Meritorious Service Award at the Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Reserve Dinner held last week. It was on that trip that fellow search and rescue member Robert Sheedy, who was roped to Leum, fell into a crevasse. ?I was hanging between two [ice] walls,? Sheedy said. Leum stopped Sheedy?s fall by driving his axe into the ice. He then wrapped the rope around his boot to steady Sheedy so he could be stabilized.

In their continuing effort to train for every possible emergency response imaginable, Montrose Search and Rescue team members recently climbed a wall of ice. The team members went to Lee Vining Canyon, near Tioga Pass and Yosemite National Park. The average temperatures range in February from 43 degrees in the day and 20 degrees at night. Members of search and rescue and the helicopter Air Five crew climbed the icy waterfall as part of their Vertical Ice Response Team (V.I.

Gretchen Hoffman MONTROSE -- With five search-and-rescue experts, it's easier and safer to help someone whose car has plunged over the side of the twisting mountain roads that snake through the mountains abutting foothill communities. Two can be deployed over the edge to calm and treat an injured motorist. One operates the winch for the 1,000 feet of cable that stretch down the hillside. Another is running safety, in charge of the ropes attached to the rescue workers who've gone over the edge.

When I was a kid, we used a phrase to describe bizarre behavior: certifiable, as in, "He's certifiable (ready for the loony bin)." This past Saturday I completed a course making me certifiable, however not in that way. I completed five days of Community Emergency Response Team training (CERT). I had learned about CERT over the years from Paul Dutton who, with his wife Lisa, head up the local CERTs. The program was created by the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD)

GLENDALE — Rescue teams called off an active search on Sunday for a retired Glendale teacher who went missing on a hike last week in the San Bernardino Mountains, shifting to a more passive hunt to find what they fear will be his remains. Dean Christy, 62, called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department at about 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, to report that he was lost near Green Valley Lake, a resort spot north of Running Springs. Sheriff’s deputies stayed in phone contact with Christy until about 1 a.m. Jan. 5 but have not reached him since.

The city of La Canada Flintridge's Volunteer Emergency Response Team is registering citizens and members of the business community for upcoming training courses. Courses cover basic emergency preparedness such as disaster first aid, fire suppression, light search and rescue and disaster psychology. There is no obligation to join the team upon completion of the courses. Two sessions are available. A daytime session from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for three consecutive Thursdays begins Feb. 5, and an evening session from 7 to 10 p.m. for eight consecutive Thursdays also begins Feb. 5. Taught by emergency services personnel, the classes are at City Hall, 1327 Foothill Blvd.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) gave a shot out to the Montrose Search and Rescue team Wednesday while addressing his colleagues in the House, citing a June 29 incident in which members found and resuscitated a drowning toddler. The team had been searching for a missing 33-year-old Bakersfield hiker in the Angeles National Forest when they came upon the 1-year-old girl face down in a pool of water near a picnic area. Reserve deputies Mike Leum and Janet Henderson aided the girl, who was flown to Northridge Hospital for treatment.

On any given day, Mike Leum packs his car with emergency rescue equipment in the chance his day goes from mundane to a heart-pounding, life-or-death situation. For the chief of the Montrose Search and Rescue team, it can happen anywhere, any time. One such instance - in which Leum saved a bloodied, suicidal man who was running into freeway traffic - got him the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's gold Meritorious Conduct Medal earlier this month. “You are responsible to the community, no matter what,” Leum said.

LA CRESCENTA — A mock 7.1 earthquake struck the Sylmar area Saturday morning and damaged the Crescenta Valley town library, where some people may have been trapped. The responsibility of searching and rescuing the victims rested on volunteers from the Crescenta Valley's Community Emergency Response Team, and they came prepared. Emergency volunteers worked feverishly Saturday morning during the mock training scenario as they carefully shifted wood blocks in an attempt to find the missing people.

In their continuing effort to train for every possible emergency response imaginable, Montrose Search and Rescue team members recently climbed a wall of ice. The team members went to Lee Vining Canyon, near Tioga Pass and Yosemite National Park. The average temperatures range in February from 43 degrees in the day and 20 degrees at night. Members of search and rescue and the helicopter Air Five crew climbed the icy waterfall as part of their Vertical Ice Response Team (V.I.

For his ?extraordinary and courageous actions? while on a climbing trip on Mt. Rainier in July 2007, Montrose Search and Rescue member Mike Leum was awarded the Meritorious Service Award at the Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Reserve Dinner held last week. It was on that trip that fellow search and rescue member Robert Sheedy, who was roped to Leum, fell into a crevasse. ?I was hanging between two [ice] walls,? Sheedy said. Leum stopped Sheedy?s fall by driving his axe into the ice. He then wrapped the rope around his boot to steady Sheedy so he could be stabilized.

While many set aside the month of August for vacations at sunny locales, Montrose Search and Rescue team members Dr. John Rodarte and John (Jay) Paneno, along with his nephew Todd Horton, donned warm clothing and headed to Wyoming. There they joined three fellow climbers from a New Jersey Iron Man club to scale the Grand Teton in Grand Teton National Park. The group also included guides from Jackson Hole Mountain Guides. ?Mainly we [Rodarte and Paneno] were doing this for training, but we met [John Costine]

When I was a kid, we used a phrase to describe bizarre behavior: certifiable, as in, "He's certifiable (ready for the loony bin)." This past Saturday I completed a course making me certifiable, however not in that way. I completed five days of Community Emergency Response Team training (CERT). I had learned about CERT over the years from Paul Dutton who, with his wife Lisa, head up the local CERTs. The program was created by the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD)

GLENDALE — Rescue teams called off an active search on Sunday for a retired Glendale teacher who went missing on a hike last week in the San Bernardino Mountains, shifting to a more passive hunt to find what they fear will be his remains. Dean Christy, 62, called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department at about 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, to report that he was lost near Green Valley Lake, a resort spot north of Running Springs. Sheriff’s deputies stayed in phone contact with Christy until about 1 a.m. Jan. 5 but have not reached him since.

The next training session for Crescenta Valley CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) begins on Saturday, March 24 and will continue through the week. The session on March 24 will be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Continuing on Tuesday, March 27, Wednesday, March 28 and Thursday, March 29, classes will be from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30, with the final class being held on Saturday, March 31 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. According to organizer Paul Dutton, CERT training is an essential tool in helping residents to be ready for the next major disaster.