Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit

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Hemet, CA
Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit

The Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit is a member of the Mountain Rescue Association. We are a group of volunteers out of Riverside County, California.

The unit is comprised of ~40 volunteers, who literally come from all walks of life. They regularly leave their jobs (or in the middle of the night, their warm beds) to respond to a call for help. They also do not receive remuneration for time given to search and rescue. The members make up a small, but spirited, group of mountaineers who spend one weekend each month training to sharpen their rescu

e skills. Each member must provide all of his own equipment at a cost of more than $2,500. Beside acting as a highly competent rescue workers, members also work closely with school, clubs, church groups, and Scout troops throughout the area to teach mountain safety. The ounce of prevention may well prevent the untimely pound of cure. In September of 1961 six men formed the 100% volunteer Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit. In a very short time the unit was tested and approved for membership in the national Mountain Rescue Association. Then in January of 1964 the unit was incorporated and granted non-profit status by the state and federal governments. The Unit began very modestly, it owned nothing! Through the hard work of founding members, their wives and friends, equipment was slowly purchased. The Unit was given a used panel truck and the members worked many long hours preparing it for search and rescue. That first year saw a total of seven mission and a working budget of less than $200. The Unit now averages better than 40 mission a year and needs $1,250 per month to run it growing operation. The Unit can modestly boast of saving over 500 lives since it’s beginning in 1961. This lifesaving work is made possible by RMRU’s Sustaining Members and the money they contribute each year. What is a life worth. The Unit believes that no expense should be spared to save the life of an unfortunate victim and in many cases it takes costly and precisely made: litters, first aid gear, climbing ropes, hardware, radio equipment and rescue vans to make a successful rescue out of a potential tragedy.

08/25/2026

Thank you to all who came out for the RMRU Pancake breakfast and the Idyllwild 5k and 10k.
We look forward to many more. 🥞

08/01/2026

RMRU was called out to search rugged desert hills and canyons in over 100° for two missing subjects.

RMRU is an all volunteer mountain rescue team. We specialize in high-angle rock, helicopter, and snow & ice rescues in Riverside California.

Learn more at: rmru.org

07/20/2026

19Jul2026

On Saturday Los Angelos County SO issued a request for 50 searchers and additional air assests for Mutual Aid in the 3rd Operation Period (OP3) search on Iron Mountain for one missing hiker.

RMRU received the request at 2:37pm with a 7am start time at the Iron Mountain trail head on 19Jul2026. Four team members were available to respond.

RMRU was inserted along a ridgeline to search their designated area, a canyon facing east toward the San Gabriel River at roughly 10:00am.

Early afternoon all search teams began extraction from their search area. All RMRU team members arrived back and were discharged from Command Post at 2:54pm.

RMRU is an all volunteer mountain rescue team. We specialize in high-angle rock, helicopter, and snow & ice rescues in Riverside California.

Learn more at: rmru.org

07/13/2026

30Jun2026

Four RMRU members, along with 4 members from San Bernardino Co SAR teams, received lifesaving medals from Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco for their bravery, selfless service, and life-saving efforts during the 3-day Tahquitz Peak traverse rescue in March 2025.

This three-day ordeal occurred as the result of two hikers falling 700 ft down the side of Tahquitz Peak and sustaining multiple major traumatic injuries while traveling across the icy traverse in the hours leading up to a major, prolonged winter storm.

Volunteers raised both individuals to the top of the traverse and transported them to a safe location, stabilizing them for three days and two nights until RSO Aviation and Cal Fire helicopters were able to transport them off the mountain.

Awarded RMRU Individuals:
• Blake Rankin
• Alexandra Cochran
• Richard Yocum
• Andy Hayt

RMRU is an all volunteer mountain rescue team. We specialize in high-angle rock, helicopter, and snow & ice rescues in Riverside California.

Learn more at: rmru.org

07/04/2026

Happy Fourth of July from RMRU. Celebrating 250 years of freedom!

06/29/2026

27Jun2026

Team members received a callout at 3:26pm for an experienced 70 year old Male PCT hiker, dehydrated 4mil up from the bottom of the Snow Creek trailhead along the PCT.

A hasty team was deployed into the field at about 4:30pm with additional resources, including a litter Team, remaining RMRU team members, and the Desert Search and Rescue (DSAR) enroute to the subject location.

The hasty team located the subject at 6:00pm and provided him with food, water, and electrolytes. At 6:30pm the subject was determined to be ambulatory and began the hike down with the hasty team.

All field teams arrived safely, back at the command post at 8:30pm, where AMR provided additional medical assessments.

Our cheerful and thankful subject requested a group photo, and all field teams were happy to oblige(last slide)

RMRU is an all volunteer mountain rescue team. We specialize in high angle rock, helicopter, and snow & ice rescues in Riverside California.

Learn more at: https://rmru.org/

Thank you to all who donate and support. What we do would not be possible without you.

06/14/2026

14June2026
RMRU Team Members received a callout at 10:00pm for 3 lost hikers east of Saddle Junction along King Trail without food, water, shelter, or warming layers. One member of the subject party also reported symptoms of food poisoning.

All 4 responding team members arrived on scene at 12:15 am, received an updated briefing of patient status and resources, collected their gear, and were dispatched into the field via the Devils Slide Trailhead at 12:50 am.

Team members made contact with the subjects along a spur, intersecting the King Trail at 2:56 am. There, they performed medical assessments and provided the necessary rest, warming, and resources for each subject.

Extraction began at 3:40 am, which consisted of a roughly 4-mile walk out back to Humber Park.

All personnel arrived safely at Humber Park and exited the field at 5:46 am. At that time, subjects were evaluated by CalFire and transported by RSO back to their personal vehicles at the Palm Springs Tram.

Team Member Roles:
Command Post: David Bever
Field Team: Alex Cochran, Matt Frenken, Nathaniel Desforges

RMRU is an all volunteer mountain rescue team. We specialize in high angle rock, helicopter, and snow & ice rescues in Riverside California.

Learn more at: https://rmru.org/

Thank you to all who donate and support. What we do would not be possible without you.

06/07/2026

6June2026
RSO Coroners and RMRU performed a Search and Tracking training.
Trainees were tasked with locating and extracting a mock subject in idlywild,CA.
Doing so ensured team members maintained proficiency in man-tracking techniques and backcountry operations

RMRU is an all volunteer mountain rescue team. We specialize in high angle rock, helicopter, and snow & ice rescues in Riverside California.

Learn more at: https://rmru.org/

Thank you to all who donate and support. What we do would not be possible without you.

06/01/2026

31May2026

Team members went up to Idyllwild, CA, to practice technical rope work and implementing the pike and pivot technique.
Many team members also got a variety of Type-I and Type-II sign offs.
Sign offs included:
-Operations Lead
-Edge Attendant
-Line Attendant
-First Responder Medical
-Land Navigation

RMRU is an all volunteer mountain rescue team. We specialize in high angle rock, helicopter, and snow & ice rescues in Riverside California.

Learn more at: https://rmru.org/

Thank you to all who donate and support. What we do wouldn't be possible without you.

05/10/2026

Saturday 10 May, 2026

In partnership with the Riverside Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit, RMRU performed a Helitack Training in order to re-familiarize members with helicopter operations for insertion and extraction.

Topics trained and/or discussed included:

•Aircraft Safety
•2-Ups
•Litter Hoisting
•Tagline procedures
•Individual Hoisting and Lowers
•Hover-Steps
•Patient Management

Address

43950 Acacia Avenue
Hemet, CA
92544

Website

http://www.rmru.org/

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