Albuquerque Mountain Rescue meets on the first Wednesday of each month at Stone Age Climbing Gym Midtown (4130 Cutler Ave NE) at 7:15 p.m. Attend a meeting to begin your membership process.
Are you willing to spend most of a weekday night/morning on the mountain carrying out a hiker with a broken ankle? Have you spent a lot of time climbing or hiking in the mountains? Do you have experience in emergency medicine? Do you want to help people who need to be rescued in the mountains? If you can enthusiastically answer “YES!” to one of the above questions, then we want to meet you
Expectations
We do not expect new members to be experienced mountain rescuers, but we do have these expectations:
- Be in good physical condition.
- Have the appropriate equipment and skills to be self-sufficient in the mountains for at least 72 hours in all seasons.
- Have your own personal safety & technical rescue gear
- Be committed and willing to give your time to attend meetings, trainings, and missions.
On an annual basis, every member of the team is required to meet our 4/6/4 requirements: four events, six exercises (aka trainings), four missions.
Membership Process
If you like what you see, make sure to come to a monthly meeting and get added to our Prospective Members list. We email this group when we need volunteers for our trainings. This is a great way to see how we work in the field, and to let you get a feel for what is involved on an individual level.
Take a GPS and Map Skills class at a local place like REI.
Take the 3 AMRC required ICS Classes from FEMA:
http://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-100.b
http://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-200.b
http://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?cod=IS-700.a
For qualified individuals we offer the possibility to transfer onto our team. See the Transfers section below.
If you want to get involved but are not sure about the field component of what we do, we have General Support Members on the team. See the General Support section below.
Transfers
Individuals interested in joining from another Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) accredited team or with an equivalent background in mountain rescue must have a minimum of three (3) years mountain rescue experience. If the individual does not have three (3) years of experience, a Board-approved course or background is acceptable.
Transfers must submit a resume with references and a letter of recommendation from their previous team (or other appropriate reference) to the Board. Transfer applications are accepted year-round.
Once accepted by the Board, transfer applicants will be considered In-Training and have up to six (6) months to successfully complete the following:
• Three (3) General Meetings
• Four (4) Exercises
• Minimum Skills Test
• Physical agility test
• FEMA ICS 100, 200, and 700
In-Training members will become Operational members upon successful completion of the defined tasks and will be notified by the Member At Large.
If the transfer applicant does not complete the defined tasks by end of the six-month period he or she may approach the Board with a request for an extension. The Board may require the transfer applicant to attend the OCC if progress is not sufficient. No transfer applicant will be appointed to Technician upon entry. Transfer applicants are not eligible for team benefits until all application requirements are met.
If the Board does not accept the transfer applicant, he or she may be added to the Prospective Member email list and may apply for the OCC at the next available opportunity.
A mentor may be provided upon request to a transfer applicant to help with the transition onto the team. Any Fieldable Member may be a mentor upon approval by the MAL. The mentor is not required to participate with the transferring applicant, however, it is highly encouraged that he or she participate as much as able.