The Arapahoe Rescue Patrol (ARP) is a voluntary search and rescue

Search and rescue

Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...

 team based in Arapahoe County, Colorado

Arapahoe County, Colorado

As of the census of 2000, there were 487,967 people, 190,909 households, and 125,809 families residing in the county. The population density was 608 people per square mile . There were 196,835 housing units at an average density of 245 per square mile...

. Arapahoe Rescue Patrol has been entirely commanded and staffed by high school students since the formation of the team in 1957, with adults providing financial and administrative support.

Role in the community

Primarily a search and rescue organization, the Arapahoe Rescue Patrol trains extensively in many areas of field emergency service including rock- and high-angle technical rescue, vertical forest/low-angle evacuation, winter and alpine operations, avalanche rescue, wilderness life support and emergency care, swift water rescue (at the technician level), and situation management functions. All members are on-call 24/7/365.

The team also supports local fire departments and law enforcement agencies

Law enforcement agency

In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...

 by providing scene security details, perimeter control, traffic management, operational help (controlling hose lines, changing air bottles, etc.), evidence searching, and other non-hazardous services. Members frequently ride with Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office deputies, Littleton

Littleton, Colorado

Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...

 Police Department officers, and Littleton Fire Rescue personnel to assist with their daily operations. The Arapahoe Rescue Patrol is the designated light-duty rescue agency for the City of Littleton. All funding is provided by private donors. The Arapahoe Rescue Patrol is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation and does not charge for its services.

History

In the fall of 1957 an attempt was made to organize a search and rescue team in the Littleton area. Very few adults were interested or could afford the time needed to organize and operate such a unit. A group of students at Littleton Senior High School offered to form a team. Stan Bush, a counselor at the school, founded the team and was President of the Patrol until his death in 2007.

Recognition

The Patrol received national recognition during the summer of 1964 when it received third prize in the Parents' Magazine Youth Group Achievement Award contest for Outstanding Service to the Community. It has received the La Sertoma

Sertoma

Sertoma Park is a park in Bismarck, North Dakota. Sertoma is on a three mile stretch of riverside plain on the Missouri River. The Lewis and Clark Riverboat docks at the park when it is not giving tours of the river where Lewis and Clark once were over 200 years ago...

 Youth Service Award.
The Patrol has received over 600 letters of commendation from victims, their families, and emergency agencies.

During the 1965 flood of the Platte River

Platte River

The Platte River is a major river in the state of Nebraska and is about long. Measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to...

 basin the Patrol received the Governor's Citation for two weeks of continuous flood work as well as a special citation from the Douglas County Civil Defense Agency. In 1976 the Patrol responded to assist with the Big Thompson Flood in Northern Colorado and received another Governor's Citation.

The Handbook of the Patrol is in use by groups in many states and foreign countries. Feature articles on the Patrol have appeared in publications such as "International Rescue and First Aid", "National Law and Order", "National Search and Rescue", "National Wildlife", and "Emergency".

In 1989 the Patrol was featured on the NBC Today show after a rock rescue in Roxborough Park, and on the CBS television show Rescue 911

Rescue 911

Rescue 911 is an informational reality-based television series, hosted by William Shatner. Originally intended to be only a set of three TV specials, Rescue 911 was picked up by CBS for the 1989 fall season after two specials aired on April 18, 1989 and May 9, 1989...

after successfully rescuing two girls.