Montecito 1/9/18 Debris Flow Debrief

Nelson Trichler of Santa Barbara County=Search and Rescue (SBCSAR) will present a mission debrief on the Montecito=1/9/18 Debris Flows incident that devastated the community in the coastal community of Montecito near Santa Barbara, CA=and claimed 23 human lives. He will present an analysis of what led =p to the Debris Flows along with how SBCSAR prepared for and responded to =he incident both that day and weeks afterwards. He will share numerous pictures of the event to give the=audience some idea of the devastation that occurred. He will also di=cuss lessons learned in working with Cal OES Fire, other emergency respons= agencies and the media during this disaster event and what is being done to prepare for potential Debris Flows in the =oming years in the area. As part of this debrief, representatives fr=m SBCSAR dog teams will share their experiences of deploying and working l=ve and Human Remain dogs during and in the months after the 1/9/18 incident.

NELSON TRICHLER

Nelson Trichler was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, USA. After completing high school he attended Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1978. Since 1981 he has been in the financial planning field, earning his Certified Financial Planning degree in 1986. He owns a professional wealth management practice in Santa Barbara, California.

In 1981 he joined the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team as a volunteer and for the past 37-years has participated in over two thousand search and rescue incidents ranging from searching for lost individuals to the rescue of injured hikers in the back country.

He has also participated in numerous out-of-county mutual aid calls in Northern California, Sierras, and Southern California.

He is an Emergency Medical Technician, Qualified Helicopter Rescue Technician, Swiftwater Rescue Technician Instructor, and a Certified Search Incident Commander.

During his time on the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team Mr. Trichler has worked diligently to improve the SAR response capabilities of the team from improving the quality and quantity of rescue equipment and response vehicles to administrative dispatch procedures within the county. As part of his work, Mr. Trichler developed geographic evacuation zones used by Santa Barbara County for rapid deployment of EMS services to evacuate residential population in times of major disasters, such as a fast moving wildland fire. Mr. Trichler has also worked with personnel at the Channel Islands National Park to develop their SAR capabilities and response plans. Mr. Trichler's support and effort was instrumental in the community in helping State of California install a suicide prevention barrier fence on a bridge that over 60 people had jumped from over the past 30-years, many of which he participated in their recovery under the bridge.

Mr. Trichler lives in Santa Barbara with his wife of 39 years, Sherri. He and Sherri have three grown children. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, climbing, skiing, swimming and white water rafting.