Courtney Martin- NASAR SARtech 1 / EMR

Courtney brings years of Search and Rescue experience to the OSRE program offerings. As a professional educator in the medical field, she is able to blend these backgrounds into a great instructional style. An experienced backpacker and SAR team Crew Chief, she has a great love for the outdoors and plenty of real world experiance to share.

Monty Keel-
After receiving his BS in Polymer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi, Monty moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1985 for work, but also for the caving, hiking, and backpacking opportunities.   In 2000 he left his corporate job and spent part of three years in California where he led cave tours in Sequoia National Park (Crystal Cave) and Providence Mountain State Recreation Area (Mitchell Caverns). Backpacking and exploring in the Sierra Nevada and the Mojave Desert, where the bones of the Earth are laid bare, spurred Monty's interest in studying Geology; he started graduate school on his fortieth birthday! The field work took him to the Island of Rota in the Marianna Islands where he explored some remote parts of the island and locating and mapping 122 caves.   After earning an MS in Geosciences from Mississippi State University, Monty became a Regional Account Manager  at Pigeon Mountain Industries (PMI), a leading manufacturer and distributor of life safety rope and rescue equipment. Through caving and doing rope work for years, he had a background knowledge of rope rescue but no formal training.  While at PMI, Monty attended Level I and Level II National Cave Rescue Commission training, an industrial rope rescue class, and was exposed to many aspects of front country and back country rescue. He also he joined the Walker County (GA) Cave and Cliff Rescue Team.   In 2006, Monty met Rita, the love of his life and moved to Rogers, Arkansas in 2007. He joined the Benton County Search and Rescue Team in 2008. He  currently serves as Assistant Unit Coordinator and  teaches land navigation, rope rescue skills, and some aspects of medical training. He is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Sarah Beth Helms - ACA Swiftwater Rescue Instructor, EMT-W , RN

Sarah Beth Helms planted her roots in wildness medicine in 1998 when she took a wilderness first aid course through Benton County Search and Rescue. She has been hooked on self rescue skills and wilderness survival since.  She loves to travel and explore the different cultures mostly within the United States. Her free time is filled with kayaking, rafting, caving, riding her Harley, scuba diving, and taking her three dogs hiking. She has a great love for ropes and technical rescue with most of her experience being in swiftwater rescue and cave rescue.  She is able to keep her medical skills up to date as her full time job is as an emergency room Registered Nurse in a level one trauma center.  One of her favorite challenges includes applying her medical knowledge and skills to the wilderness setting and providing excellent patient care without the resources of the level one trauma center!  With her prehospital experience and her WEMT she is able to think outside the box and has been able to make expedition trips more comfortable and a better experience for people in need of medical care.

Through her EMS and pre-hospital work, she has seen first hand how taxing a seemingly simple rescue can be on an entire community.  Therefore, she is a great believer that education opens doors and loves the opportunity to share her experiences with others in hopes of making their outdoor trips safer and giving them the tools to make their mishaps manageable.

LORRaine Mcphee - 
aca Swiftwater rescue and Whitewater Kayak instructor

Lorraine has been a kayaker since the age of eight and has paddled extensively throughout North and South America.

A teacher by profession, her smooth and concise presentation style is fun and effective. She is heavily involved in her local paddling community and is a  past Commodore and Safety Director of the North Texas River Runners.  A former EMT and currently wilderness medicine educated, she is a strong lead whitewater instructor and water safety professional.