Search and Rescue trainees pass the test

Three years of training culminates in weekend of mountain rescue skills assessment.

Marshall Allen

July 4 2001

MONTROSE -- Three Montrose Search and Rescue trainees completed and passed their practical testing this weekend in Angeles National Forest. The testing was one of the final steps in a multiyear journey for the mountaineers.

Arbi Karapetian, 28, an engineer at JPL, said he got involved with search and rescue so he could be outdoors and help people.

"When you help someone in a situation worse than yours, it gives you a reality check," Karapetian said. "You tend to appreciate what you have a lot more." Karapetian, John Levin, 36, and Lyle Koegler, 25, each trained for two to three years to reach the practical test. They started about three years ago by becoming sheriff's deputies. Becoming a deputy requires background and medical checks, a polygraph test, and more than 400 hours of part-time sheriff's reserve academy work.

The trainees also earned their Emergency Medical Technician licenses, which take about six months. Finally, they were trained for about a year in mountain rescue skills.

The three men said they got to know each other well through the training.

"Any time you go into the mountains and you're trusting your life in somebody else's hands, it's definitely a bonding type of atmosphere," Koegler said.

The training and service with the search and rescue team requires countless hours of a team member's personal time. Levin said his wife has been extremely supportive through the process.

"There's no way I could've done it without her," Levin said. "As much as it's a sacrifice for me, it is for her as well."

A wide spectrum of mountain rescue skills were put to test over the weekend: map and compass, rappelling, rock climbing, tracking, and the packaging and extradition of victims.

Even though they've passed their practical tests, the trainees have one more hurdle before they become members of the team -- the team vote on July 11.