Thursday, September 10, 2009

Search and Rescue

After many months of classes, my 26 year old son, Matt earned his Search and Rescue pager Tuesday night. That means when his pager goes off, if he is available, he will be going on Search and Rescue calls. I am so proud of him.

(For those of you that are new to my blog, Matt is a third grade teacher in Telluride, Colorado.)

Search and Rescue is a volunteer organization that works in conjunction with the county Sheriff's Department. They do exactly what the name says...they search and they rescue.

SAR emergency calls can cover everything from a skier with a broken leg, to a missing hiker, to a person falling off a cliff, to water rescues, to drownings, to a car over the side of the mountain. Sometimes they search, sometimes they rescue and sadly, sometimes they recover....and that is the hard part.

The team might use a snowmobile, an ATV, a truck, a boat, a helicopter....whatever they need to accomplish the task at hand.

SAR bi-weekly training sessions are open to anyone with an interest. A lot of what determines if and when you receive a pager is your level of commitment to the program. People that show up sporadically for training sessions probably won't be given a pager. People that attend session after session for a good part of a year...might.

The training also never ends. There are always new skills to learn and rescues to practice.

I know Matt will be a wonderful asset to the Search and Rescue Team...his level of commitment is unwavering in all that he takes on.

CHEE HOO Matti!

11 comments:

Lanyardlady said...

Thank goodness for dedicated people like Matt who will be available for desperate people in desperate times.

Amy said...

Congratulations to Matt!! Also, that is a great photo!

Unknown said...

Love the picture! Congrats to Matt!
I know you're very proud, as you should be.

Nancy

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

Hi Kathy,
Congratulations to Matt and his proud mom! S&R folks are heroes with every step they take!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I was intrigued by "Four Dog Day" - I have four dogs!

Oklahoma Granny said...

Congrats to Matt! What a blessing he is to your family, the children he teaches and the people he'll be able to help.

cabin + cub said...

Wow! Congrats to him.. you must be a proud mama! ;)

Angela said...

That is great!

Aubrey is a search and rescue person too!....but he hasn't had to search and rescue anything since Katrina...

Maybe if we lived near a mountain :)

I be Matt will be very very busy!

jdavissquared said...

That's awesome! Congrats Matt!

Kathy said...

Thank you so much for all of the kind words. You are all so sweet.

Beth Anderson said...

Great picture!
I know you're proud as you should be!

aliceinparis said...

Big congrats to Matt! Valuable training to possess.

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