North Carolina Interagency Workshop - Working with HART

On June 18 the North Carolina State Forest Service (NCFS) sponsored a 4-hour interagency workshop with the North Carolina Helicopter and Aquatic Rescue Team (NC HART). Attendees included firefighters and managers from NCFS, USFS, and local fire departments. Ron Hollifield, Regional Forester for the NCFS, was instrumental in holding this session.

The NC HART is the only program in the nation that utilizes a military aircraft staffed with non-military Rescue Technicians in cooperation with the NC Army National Guard, NC State Highway Patrol, NC Emergency Management, and municipal fire departments throughout North Carolina.  It is managed through the NC Department of Public Safety.  

 The helicopter used on this day is a UH-60L with both short-haul and hoist capabilities. [The fleet consists of two other helicopters a UH-72 Lakota (hoist only) and a Bell 407 (short haul only.)] 

 The workshop consisted of classroom presentation on the program and capabilities, a field session with the pilot, crew chiefs, and rescue technicians (here from the Charlotte Fire Department) and then a live demonstration. 

 

 For more information, contact Ron Hollifield or Riva Duncan for more information.

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Thanks to Riva Duncan, US Forest Service R8 FMO, for sharing this post.