Mounted Search and Rescue
The Eureka Fire Protection District has a Mounted Search and Rescue Team. This team utilizes trained personnel on horseback for locating and accessing missing and injured persons in areas inaccessible to vehicles. The EFPD team, one of only three recognized teams in Missouri, is comprised of about 30 volunteers including nurses, businessmen, firefighters, police, and contractors.
The Mounted Search and Rescue Team was formed in 2002 after the Eureka Fire Protection District recognized that there was a need for trained volunteers when searching for lost, injured, or missing persons.
The team has Search & Rescue expertise in Incident Command / Search Operations, Communications, Mounted Search, Canine Search, and Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue.
- Incident Command / Search Operations:
These members are ICS/NIMS certified and are equipped with computerized mapping software to formulate search plans and track search progress. - Communications:
These members are trained in all aspects of communications and have their own communications network to include VHF and UHF radios, repeaters, and extenders. - Canine:
This group uses canines trained in Trailing and Human Remains Recovery. - Mounted:
As compared to ground searching; horses are faster, can carry more supplies to stay out longer, offer a higher viewing platform for searching, and provide a more rested rescue worker when a subject is found. The mounted unit uses well trained horses capable of searching large tracts of forest, fields, trails and other terrain. - Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue:
These members are trained in how to safely prepare for and approach large animal rescue incidents.
Highly Trained and Ready to Respond
All team members train year round in backcountry travel including map and compass, global positioning system (GPS) use, communications, first aid, evidence preservation, and search and rescue operations.
Members of the team carry pagers or cell phones so that all members can be instantly notified of a search call-out. When dispatched, each member of the team responds to the search area with their equipment, first aid supplies, and two-way radios for communication with search coordinators and other team members.
Law Enforcement and Fire Departments across Missouri and western Illinois have repeatedly requested our Search & Rescue teams to assist in all manner of searches and other incidents requiring trained searchers.
Searches include locating downed aircraft, lost hunters, hikers, or children, crime scene / evidence searches, and other emergency or disaster situations.
The Mounted Search and Rescue Team can be contacted through Eureka Fire House 1 at 636-938-5505 or for an emergency response contact South County Fire Alarm through your emergency dispatch center.