Technical Rescue Team

Services We Provide

The Technical Rescue Team (TRT) of the South Orange Rescue Squad specializes in three specific technical rescue disciplines: swiftwater, land search and rescue, and high angle.

The Technical Rescue Team responds to emergency calls in and around Orange County, North Carolina that require specialized equipment and technical skill for patient rescue. The Technical Rescue Team is also available for deployment as a state resource.  The team has deployed extensively throughout North Carolina for water rescues during hurricane and flooding events, as well as for search and rescue missions.  

Land Search and Rescue

The Technical Rescue Team has specialized training for the tracking and locating of lost or missing persons. Someone who might require search resources could be a lost/overdue hiker, persons with cognitive impairments who have wandered from caretakers, or any individual that is reported as lost or injured and whereabouts unknown. The Team provides support locally to Emergency Management and Law Enforcement as well as other requesting agencies throughout North Carolina. We encourage our members to attend various state supported and outside agency trainings, and we routinely respond with other regional partners to search and rescue (SAR) deployments.

High Angle Rescue

The Technical Rescue Team has learned specialized rope rescue techniques to rescue or recover patients trapped on terrain with a steep slope angle. The team has conducted high angle training in the CoGen power plant and on ledges of the American Stone rock quarry. Ropes, pulleys, harnesses, belay devices, and hauling equipment may be utilized to gain access to the patient, support the team providing patient care and retrieval, or to remove the patient and support team from the scene.In recent history, the Technical Rescue Team has responded with Chapel Hill Fire Department to several crane rescues on constructions sites in Chapel Hill.

Training Process

Membership in this division requires attendance at a minimum of six of the twelve training sessions held each year. TRT organizes monthly Saturday sessions for training and provides opportunities for members to attend additional external training sessions. In order to become a full member of TRT, several years of training are typically necessary to accrue all certifications at the necessary level. Provisional members may respond to calls and participate up to the level of their training. Complete training requirements will be provided to provisional members by the training officer, and must be completed to become a regular member.