Marion County public safety agencies concluded a successful overnight search and rescue exercise Thursday morning. The multi-agency search and rescue effort began at 9 a.m. on Wednesday with a report of four missing hikers. The goal of the exercise was to allow agencies the opportunity to work together and practice search tactics in a real-life scenario. Agencies involved include Marion County Fire Rescue, The Marion County Sheriffs Office, Dunnellon Police Department, Ocala Fire Rescue, Department of Corrections, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Marion County GIS, Alachua County GIS and Alachua County Fire Rescue. The practice extended through Wednesday night, with MCSO Air1 searching from the sky and crews setting up a perimeter to contain the lost hikers. Crews resumed a full-fledged search with the DOCs K9 unit and MCFRs search and rescue dog and GIS teams mapping the area covered by separate search teams at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The lost hikers, who had split up, were found by two separate search teams at 9:48 a.m. and 9:50 a.m. Were very glad for the chance to have had this exercise. Coming together with different agencies to practice an emergency without the pressure of a true emergency allows us to build our strengths and identify where we can improve, said MCSO Lt. Dennis McFatten.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 19:27:56 +0000