Maybe Best Not to Taunt the SAR gods

So I guess I’m no longer “Jones’in” for a mission. With three missions over the past three days and local rivers flooding expected to crest today, I’ve had my share of missions for the month. OK, so I was Base OL for the mission on Monday for two stranded climbers. I didn’t do any of the hard work so when the mom comes over to us and gives us all hugs after the mission, I feel a bit sheepish knowing that the three team members on my right did all of the real work.

The next mission was for a couple of lost hikers. OK, I didn’t get to this mission because I had to pick up the kids from school, but I think it counts at least to make the story sound better…

Last night was unfortunately a recovery mission from below a trestle. From a technical stand point this was reasonably interesting as we setup a steep angle raise. The raise was pretty straight forward as we set up a 3 to 1 and a belay. The raise was completed with about 4 to 5 resets and the mission completed in a few hours.

I guess I should have listened to the wisdom of my father when he would remind me to, “be careful what you wish for.”

Jones’in for a Mission

Am I some crazed adrenaline junkie? Is my feeling self-worth or ego impacted because I’m not on the trail or is it something less complex? I’ve already been on a few missions this year, but I’ve either been Base Operations or In-Town Operations Leader (ITOL) or the mission was essentially done by the time I arrived at base. Holy cow, I don’t think I’ve been in the field yet this year! How can this have happened? Now, I’m sitting here waiting for my pager to go off, checking the batteries and making sure the thing is on. Maybe I should have them send a test page to make sure my pager is working.

I find myself in this situation every now and then, not wishing harm on anyone of course, but if someone does need help in the backcountry, well then it might as well be my pager that goes off, right? Even just a snatch and grab mission for a hiker without a flashlight would satisfy my need for a fix.

Oh Man, I feel like a dork! I just remembered I’m signed up for ITOL until Thursday. OK, SAR gods, no missions till Friday. OK?

BTW, I do realize some readers have been quite busy in the SAR business lately and I need to be careful what I wish for.

Organizational Politics & SAR

In many cases it seems frustrating to have to deal with organizational politics in Search and Rescue. After all, we are there to help and we are volunteering our valuable time to provide resources for whatever overseeing agency you “report” to. We are here to save lives right? Not bicker about the various aspects of day to day operations.

Well, as much as I hate to admit it, organizational politics are likely here to stay. In every organization I’ve been part of since my early teens as a Sea Explorer there have been politics. Sometimes it was someone working toward a leadership role and other times it was drama about who said what and how words and thoughts get turned around. Whatever the case, it can seem like one or a group are trying to sway the crowd to go along with their way of thinking. Often times, the reality is that perceptions get clouded because of personalities. Unfortunately, there are times when actions are because of personalities usually resulting in feeling getting hurt and a wedge gets pushed deeper causing a further separation of the unit.

I have learned that, like it or not, politics are part of any organization. However, I have a very low tolerance for politics while on a mission and zero tolerance when a life is on the line (especially mine). To avoid this I have found that finding a working relationship or agreeing to disagree seems to work. While I probably have a bigger ego than I’d like to think, trying to remove egos from a heated topic is often difficult, but ultimately effective. Realizing that politics exist is the first step, the next step is never losing focus of the mission of Search & Rescue, to help people.