SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A new Scottsdale search and rescue team got its first major call-up late last month, helping find a person in crisis who was alone in the desert after dark.
Police and fire crews responded near Gateway Trailhead on May 24 around 9:45 p.m. after family members grew concerned about someone they believed was experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
The person had taken a rideshare to the trailhead and later made comments that worried family members. After hours without contact, the family requested a welfare check.
Responders established a unified command at the scene and brought in COSSAR, Scottsdale’s new search and rescue team, which officially launched earlier this month.
The team combines fire and police personnel with six trained dogs and was built for situations like this one: a missing person, rugged desert terrain and no clear trail to follow.
Police also requested a helicopter for aerial support, but weather initially prevented it from taking off. Search teams kept moving, sending out e-bike crews from both the fire and police departments while COSSAR’s K-9 teams searched the trails.
Once conditions improved, the helicopter joined the effort from above, officials said.
Searchers eventually found the person off trail. They were treated at the scene and taken to a hospital for further care.
The city has not released the person’s name or said how long the search lasted. Still, the operation offered an early look at what COSSAR was built to do: bring together dogs, bikes, aircraft and multiple agencies to find someone in one of the region’s harshest landscapes.
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Scottsdale, AZ Patch
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