Search and Rescue Community Mourns Pioneer

The international search and rescue (SAR) community lost one of its most influential and visionary pioneers on Feb. 5.

Jim Segerstrom, Advanced Rescue Technology editorial advisory board member and director of Special Rescue Services Group of Sonora, Calif., died of a massive stroke at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, with his wife Shiree, son Christian, mother Mary Etta, and siblings at his side. Jim was 60 years old.

One of the founding members of the Tuolumne County Search and Rescue Team in 1975, Jim was instrumental in the development of swiftwater rescue education and training, and was a champion of safety, technical rescue training and preparedness for fire-rescue and SAR personnel worldwide. According to the Union Democrat, in Sonora, Calif., Jim "took his passion for the outdoors and turned that love into a career as a nationally and internationally recognized educator, consultant, author and expert in swiftwater, rope and helicopter rescue techniques."

The inspiration for the development of swiftwater rescue came in 1975 in the aftermath of a low-head dam tragedy in Binghamton, NY, that cost three firefighters their lives and injured four others. Jim co-founded Rescue 3 in 1979, introducing the Swiftwater Rescue Technician program. According to Barry Edwards, Tuolumne County SAR helicopter rescue team leader and past chief administrative officer, who became a Rescue 3 swiftwater rescue instructor in 1985, "We discovered that the average firefighter was being called to river rescues without any understanding of how to safely operate in this dangerous environment." Jim and Barry, who were not only members of the SAR team, but also whitewater river guides, began to "formalize the rescue philosophy behind swiftwater rescue."

The two were the first swiftwater rescue pioneers to receive the prestigious Higgins & Langley Memorial Award in Swiftwater Rescue Lifetime Achievement honors in 1995.

Barry notes that Jim's legacy will continue. "Jim was a larger than life character," he muses. "He was the Pied Piper of search and rescue. Everybody got in line and followed him."

Jim was one of the first experts to serve on Advanced Rescue Technology's editorial advisory board and become a regular contributor to the magazine, authoring the popular "Rescue Roundup" column, as well as many feature articles. His series of articles entitled Rope Rescue for Dummies was the most popular in the history of the magazine. EMS Magazine Associate Publisher/Editor Nancy Perry, who also served as the editor of ART from 1997 to 2006, notes that Jim's passion for water rescue was unsurpassed. "He had such conviction in what he was doing," she says. "He leaves a void that will never be filled."

For information on a memorial fund, visit the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Search & Rescue Web site.

Nancy J. Rigg is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, Calif.