By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
Rescues have been in the news lately, much more than ever before. Children, older adults, and people who find themselves lost are stories that have come into local and national news more and more.
Consequently, the people who can locate these hapless individuals find themselves in the news also.
The Campbell County LandSAR, or land search and rescue, has been in existence since the early 2000’s. They are under the auspices of the Campbell County Emergency Management Department.
“We have about 27 volunteers right now,” said Lance Kuo-Esser, who is part of the organization. “We don’t put too many restrictions on who can volunteer. Some people are naturals outside. They want to be outside in nature, and they are fit so they can hike and walk almost anywhere. However, we have many jobs when someone goes missing, such as computer work, getting gear ready and other jobs. We will take anyone over 18 years old. If they are willing to help, and have the desire to help, we want them.”
He said there is not a large time commitment that is necessary for being on the team. Most of the team members also have full time jobs.
“We ask that they attend two meetings a month,” said Kuo-Esser. “We have one on the first Wednesday of the month, from 7 to 9 pm. We have another on the third Saturday of the month, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The meetings are in A J Jolly Park.”
Kuo-Esser said the majority of the calls that they get fall into one of three categories. The first is dementia walk offs, where people who have some form of dementia, and they mostly walk away, but sometimes drive away from where they are being cared for. The second is autism walk offs, where usually children leave a house or a care center, and they try to go to a specific place which could contain a water feature. The third category is people who go hiking or camping and get lost. If they have a phone with service they can usually help themselves, but if they have no service, which is commonly the case, they can get turned around and do not know how to get back to a familiar place.Kuo-Esser said some people have a built in compass, and others not so much.
He said not long ago they had an autism walk off in Florence, but despite the best efforts of many people looking for the child, she was not found alive. They had another call out for an 18-month-old in Petersburg, who was found as soon as their team pulled up at the site. They have participated in some searches for dementia patients also.
“People who hike and camp need to take things to protect themselves and be prepared,” said Kuo-Esser. “When I go camping, I take a larger backpack and my fiance once asked why I carry it, but it is because you have to be prepared for anything, so you carry the ten essentials.
Some of the things are a red or orange tarp, that can easily be spotted, and a whistle or signaling mirrors, anything to get somebody’s attention.”
He said there are LandSAR teams in Pendleton and Grant counties, and one in Buffalo Trace, but none in Boone or Kenton counties. He said Boone County has a water rescue and Campbell County has none, but both counties share. They can always call the Kentucky Search Dog Association, and the Northern Kentucky Technical Rescue, a team that does high angle rescue as well as rescues in underground places. Kuo-Esser said that the Technical Rescue team is largely made up of firefighters from all over the area.
LandSAR has a Chief, Jason Sebastian, who has been in the organization since its inception. They also have a truck, called 2320, a large vehicle and trailer, and they just acquired a Polaris that hooks up to the truck.
Kuo-Esser said they have gotten calls to go down to Red River Gorge, as well as calls to help with flood and hurricane relief. They were called on to help find a car, he said, that had disappeared in Silver Grove or Melbourne recently, but the effort to find the driver alive was not successful in this case.
All volunteers should be available to receive calls. They do not require people to be trained, they will provide training and uniforms, which are orange so they can be visible.
For those who would like to be a part of the Campbell County LandSAR, they can go to the Campbell County website to the Emergency Management and find the forms needed to sign up.
“The ability to save a life is often dependent upon how quickly the person can be found and accessed,” said Kuo-Esser. “If the missing person is your loved one, you will expect well-equipped, well-trained search and rescue professionals to bring them home safely to you. Our team is entirely composed of volunteer professionals, with a wide range of abilities and expertise and is available upon request to help anywhere in Campbell County, Northern Kentucky, or statewide.”