Mountain Park Rescue Squad, Inc.

09/23/2026

Step-by-step, rescuers practiced The art of sign cutting (sometimes referred to as point tracking or manhunting). Determining the direction of travel of lost victims is critical for increasing odds of survival and success. Being able detect clues in a variety of environments and with various amounts of sunlight are critical to keep our eyes trained to detect sign of human passage.

A full scale search can require hundreds of volunteers, and you could be the one who finds the next lost person! Apply today and start your rescue journey at www.rescue83.org.

09/09/2026

Last night, we replicated a training from a few years ago where we constructed what we (jokingly) call the "Mountain Park Crane"! The focus of this training is to practice multiple skills at once:
🔺 Setting up and using our artificial high directional (Arizona Vortex, the tripod-thingy)
🪢Compound mechanical advantage systems
⬆️ Vertical rescuer movement
🛘 Creative problem solving for anchors and rescue setups

At he end of the day, we want to be able to access victims no matter where they may find themselves. Small trainings like this keep skills fresh and minds sharp.

Join the rescue today at www.rescue83.org .

08/31/2026

Mountain Park Rescuers just enhanced your community's search-and-rescue capabilities by becoming certified Land Search Field Team Members! After 2 long weekends including coursework, overnight sheltering, survival/sustainment tactics, land navigation, and search practice (day and night), we now have members certified through the NC-8100 course. This physically and mentally demanding training improves the odds of a lost person being found when our squad is involved.

Know that we never have enough volunteers for this work. The volunteers pictured here aren't all too different from you, and we would love to see you in the next set of training photos! If you'd like to conquer challenging courses and become a true asset to your community, you can apply to join at www.Rescue83.org .

Special thanks to Ashe County Rescue Squad for helping and hosting. And thanks to Mount Airy Rescue Squad for sharing the vision of better trained search teams by sending a member with us! We enjoyed the company and camaraderie.

08/02/2026

Our website and emails are back live! We had some delays with getting some technical configurations done, so it took a little longer than expected. If you emailed us this week and got an error message back, please send it again! You can now visit www.rescue83.org again to volunteer, donate, or learn more!

[mountain park rescue squad]

07/24/2026

Hello! Our website, www.rescue83.org, will be a little glitchy over the next 48 hours as we do some technical work in the background. In the meantime, you can use this link to apply to volunteer with us! We appreciate everyone's patience.
https://forms.gle/aNgTeCnGSnujxrL29

07/05/2026

Keeping Mountain Park safe during 4th of July is no small task. It involves planning, training, time, and partnerships. A massive thank you to everyone who helped respond to emergencies throughout the day and helped mitigate incidents throughout the event.
Surry County Office of Emergency Management
Surry County Emergency Services
Mountain Park Vol.Fire Department
Surry County Sheriffs Office

The Mountain Park Ruritans put on yet another fantastic 4th of July to honor our beloved country in our beautiful community. It is a privilege to be able to serve the community members and visitors of this event.

Thank you all for your continued support! Happy 4th of July everyone.

07/01/2026

Just to prove that we *did* do something other than the polar plunge last night, here are some more photos from our training last night. We also practiced various other cooling methods, patient movement, and reviewed protocols.

If you missed the ice bath video, check out our last post!

(Also peep the neighbor's dog who came to hang out with us for a bit. Unfortunately, we did not have applications for canines at the time they came over)

07/01/2026

💧🚰STAY COOL, OR BE COOLED! 🧊🥶
Tonight's training focused on heat emergencies, from minor dehydration to complete heat stroke. For your entertainment, Chief Love demonstrated the most aggressive heat management treatment we have: Ice Water Immersion (also called an ice bath).

Ice baths are for severe heat injuries where the patient needs to be cooled down as absolutely fast as possible.

☀️🔥 Heat injuries happen when you remain exposed to excessive heat and/or are dehydrated in a hot environment. Organs begin to fail as the body fails to compensate under the extreme conditions. Older adults and young children are more susceptible to heat injuries than the general population, and it may not take as much exposure. Treatment for head injuries involves rapid cooling, supportive care, fluids, and medical monitoring.

We look forward to seeing you at 4th of July! Stay hydrated and stay cool....or we might have to cool you down our way 🧊🚑⛑️

06/24/2026

What you're seeing isn't a meeting... It's a tabletop exercise designed to teach rescuers how to apply the Incident Command System (ICS). We assign roles and go through scenarios of all the different issues that could happen; assigned resources, command personnel, and manage issues as they arise. Our scenario: Mountain Park 4th of July 🎆

Our squad is one of the only local agencies in the county that handles incident management for large events, and we take a lot of pride in that. Coordinating resources to make sure our annual event is as safe as possible is no small task.

We've got a special treat for you for next week's training just ahead of 3th of July, so stay tuned! If you want to take part in keeping your community safe and operate in one of the most unique areas, apply online today: www.Rescue83.org.

06/20/2026

We are deeply humbled by the sheer turnout, support, and genuine excitement our community had today. It was a lot of hours about behind the scenes, but everything that happened today made it well worth it. It is nothing short of an honor to open and commemorate our new base as the Linda & Dean Jennings Rescue Building, honoring the giants we have built our squad upon. We don't know what more to say other than "Thank You", as we have never felt so moved by our work and efforts before.

Have a great weekend Mountain Park, and as Chief Love said: "Never stop caring" 💚