HEREFORD, Ariz. (KGUN) — Summer months in the Sonoran Desert might be the most dangerous of the year, keeping search and rescue teams busy.
Considering just how extreme our landscape and climate can be, the Cochise County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Posse (CochiseSAR) invited me out to their monthly training and told me it's a year-round responsibility.
"This is a very harsh environment. It's very, very unforgiving. People die out here," Jim Fusco said in a serious tone.
At more than 6,000 square miles of rugged mountains and high desert plains and valleys, the southeast corner of the state can be beautiful while carrying a stark warning for anyone who dares to venture off the beaten path.
Jim is a coordinator with Cochise SAR; part of a constant group of 60 fellow retirees and many men and woman who volunteer their time and talents for the health and safety of others.
"We have teachers. We have people that work at Ft. Huachuca, government jobs, retirees like myself. We have current law enforcement people, ex-law enforcement people, just every day people," Jim told me.
Each month they meet to practice their skills so that in the event of the unthinkable, they'll be ready to act with dog teams, swiftwater rescue teams, a helicopter crew and even a dive team.
"A lot of our activity has been east of Douglas but we've also had activity right up here in the Huachucas where we've had to rescue people," Jim said.
Typically they deal with injuries, rattlesnakes bites, people who get lost...
"There really isn't anything that we don't do," Jim said.
The number of border crossers has really come down of late.
In recent years, Cochise SAR helped at least one or two UDAs or undocumented aliens every month.
This year they've had just tow calls so far since the beginning of January.
Cochise County shares nearly 84 miles of the southern border with Mexico but border crossers aren't the only ones in need of rescue.
Not only is your weekend warrior and picnic crowd vulnerable to the vastness of this desert, the starting line for the Arizona Trail, an 800 mile long trek from south to north to the Utah border begins just over this ridge.
"We have several EMT's on the team and IV fluids and all of that," Eric Williams who works the ropes team told me.
"First thing is to make sure they are able to move?" I asked.
"Yeah, we assess them so the EMT's will do their primary assessment and look for any obvious injuries and proceed from there," Eric said.
In this scenario, I played the part of an injured hiker stranded below a cliff. The crew locked in to get me out.
"Isaac and I will ascend these other ropes with you to help you up," Eric said as he walked me through the process.
"And this is standard procedure? Every rescue you go through all of these checks?" I asked.
"Yeah... Always. We do it in trainings and in missions," Eric said.
And thanks to people like Mike Westman whose tricked out personal truck serves as a kind of communications beacon expanding the team's reach across what could be called dead zones.
"We refer to this as the High Mobility Mobile Communications Unit because it can go anywhere where it's needed," Mike said.
Each of the volunteers takes time out of their lives and time away from their families to make sure that this desert that we all love doesn't leave us stranded in a desperate situation.
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Dan Spindle co-anchors Good Morning Tucson on KGUN 9 and is an award-winning storyteller whose work has earned him honors from the Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmys, the Associated Press and the Utah Society of Professional Journalists for both anchoring and reporting. Dan is passionate about history and loves to explore the Grand Canyon State. Share your story ideas with Dan by emailing dan.spindle@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or X.
