The Cook County Commissioners’ Room was full of emergency responders wanting to learn more about search and rescue procedures November 23 – 24. Instructor Rick Slatten was a dynamic speaker, sharing lessons he and his wife and business partner Deb Slatten have learned in their 30-plus years of involvement with search and rescue.
The Cook County Commissioners’ Room was crowded with 39 emergency responders from around the region on November 23 – 24, as Rick and Debra Slatten of WoodsTalk! LLC taught an extensive class based on their years of experience in the field of search and rescue.
For two days, members of search and rescue squads, volunteer fire departments, First Responders, and other emergency response partners from five agencies learned how to work together in search planning and management, covering a wide range of topics from dispatch and staging to search tools and team tactics; from land navigation and position plotting to search theory.
The Slattens know their curriculum. Rick Slatten has 34 years of experience in wilderness search and rescue and has been an instructor of wilderness and water search techniques for 27 years. A nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician, he currently teaches a variety of emergency services topics at Lake Superior College’s Emergency Response Training Center in Duluth. He holds advanced certification in human tracking, rope rescue instruction and search management and currently serves as the lieutenant secretary of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad.
Debra Slatten has 35 years of law enforcement experience, serving in the positions of patrol deputy and criminal investigator, and is currently sergeant in charge of the administrative services division for St. Louis County Sheriff ’s Office. She holds certification in search planning and management and is a frequent member on major searches with the St. Louis County Rescue Squad.
Together the Slattens operate WoodsTalk! LLC, providing search and rescue and emergency services education to agencies across the United States.
Although the course work may sound dry, the Slattens kept it interesting with anecdotes about their experiences on high profile— and harrowing—cases. They were involved in the months-long statewide search for 19-year-old Katie Poirier who was abducted from a convenience store in Moose Lake and whose remains were never absolutely identified. They were part of the grueling search for 22-year-old college student Dru Sjodin, whose body was recovered in Crookston, Minnesota months after her disappearance from Grand Forks, North Dakota.
In addition to the seriousness of those searches and a whole classroom session on Why Searches Go Bad, the training had some light moments. When Rick Slatten asked students if they had ever been on a search when deer bones had been found, many hands were raised. Slatten noted that in a “non-world class, not by the book search, finding a deer vertebrae can cripple a search.”
Slatten talked about how that situation should be properly handled as emergency responders listened intently. That was the case throughout the weekend, as emergency responders worked to have a solid foundation for future searches in the Northland.
Cook County Search and Rescue Captain Paul Olin said Cook County was fortunate to have these experienced educators visit Cook County.
“Rick [Slatten] is really a dynamic speaker. All of the classroom evaluations were positive and people were on the edge of their seats the entire time,” said Olin.
Asked if the training was prompted by last summer’s search for missing Gunflint Trail man Paul Brandt, Olin said this training has been in the works since 2011. However, the extensive search for Brandt that ended tragically probably raised more interest in the community. “This gives all of us involved in such searches a common foundation to work from,” Olin said.
He expressed appreciation to the Cook County Sheriff ’s Office for sponsoring the training.
Olin encourages anyone interested in becoming involved in Cook County Search and Rescue to contact the Cook County Law Enforcement Center at (218) 387-3030 for more information.
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