The Many Hats of Palmer – Emergency Response Part 2: OSAR
In addition to being a fire fighter in Antarctica and continuing the theme of the many hats of Palmer here’s a little something about another one of the many jobs that those of us at Palmer have to do – Ocean Search & Rescue (OSAR).
OSAR is a great team to be involved in. Being out on the water here is absolutely fantastic and affords some amazing opportunities for wildlife viewing and exploration of the neighboring islands of the Palmer archipelago.
The first step of becoming a part of the OSAR team was a week of training in the unlikely setting of the 
Arizona desert. We were, however, able to spend a little bit of time on the water learning how to use survival suits and driving zodiacs.
Even after all of this training, once we got to Palmer station we were required to attend boating I and boating II classes on station – these are mandatory for anyone who needs to be on a zodiac or for anyone who needs to drive one. The courses are very similar to the Happy Camper
training given at McMurdo station; and at Palmer, the Boating Coordinator has a very similar role to the entire field safety training program staff at McMurdo.
The training is pretty enjoyable and the payoff is awesome!
Fur seal - Jacobs Island
Harry pilots the Zodiac through the brash ice
Will @ June 16, 2009
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