We all wish him a full and speedy recovery. In training our people we always stress that safety of the rescuers is the highest priority. We try to be as careful and safe as possible, but even so, bad things sometimes happen.

In Alaska, the SAR community is reeling from the loss of the Alaska State Trooper helicopter "Helo 1" (N911AA), which crashed last Saturday on a short rescue mission near Talkeetna. The pilot, a State Trooper who was flying as spotter, and a rescued snow machiner died. Most of us in the volunteer SAR community have flown missions with pilot Mel Nading. He was a wonderful guy and we will miss him greatly. I will be attending the memorial service tomorrow.

Please be careful out there.