I certainly hope you are incorrect in your assessment of the contemporary spirit of volunteerism today, I would not bet the farm against that proposition. I harken back over thirty years - my involvement as a SAR volunteer ended in 1985. Although I spent the next fifteen years on the staff of Channel Islands National Park, we really did not have that many operations, and their conduct was not my prime responsibility.

I do know that back in the day, we could keep volunteers in the field for two weeks and longer. Many of us had schedules that offered a certain amount of flexibility. I, for instance, found an obscure section in the Department of Interior Manual that offered forty hours of administrative leave per annum for activities like volunteer SAR. Management came to support this, since there were obvious and recognized benefits to the community. Many others of my comrades worked out similar arrangements. Of course there were times, when I was undertaking field projects, when I was out of town and totally unavailable.

At the time I was active the organization (Southern Arizona Rescue Association) had an active membership of 100 or so We routinely could gather 20 or more at a moment's notice and even more with advance notice. When I last visited Tucson, SARA was prospering and even more competent than in my day - I was quite impressed by what I witnessed.

As an aside, it wasn't always that way. In the beginning, SARA couldn't pour (censored body fluid) out of a boot if there was a hole in the toe, and instructions on the heel. Operations got a lot better over the years.

Certainly, it would be a rash public official who would mention cost as a factor, but I am speaking of strategy sessions where we were all expressing our opinions frankly. When an operation was scaled back, it was more out of a sense that we had exhausted all our options, we were well past the point where the victim might have survived, and that indeed going over the ground again would be a squandering of resources.

Our situation was also fortunate in that helicopters were readily available from 1)Arizona Department of Public Safety and/or 2) the Air Force with their wonderful assortment of Hueys and gung-ho, Vietnam tested pilots. They did some wonderful stuff all under the guise of "training."

I am convinced that volunteer SAR is a bargain for the taxpayer and is cost effective. Furthermore, it think a healthy community will support volunteerism and not leave matters like SAR up to the "authorities." Grass roots involvement of the citizenry is a very good thing.

Personally, I can now look back on a fairly active life in which I can honestly say I have achieved a thing or two. I am proudest of, and received the most internal satisfaction from, SAR volunteerism, unquestionably. Many of the really strong friendships I have developed over the years were with fellow volunteers, based on situations where we really trusted each other to perform capably.

I am sure not every community has a significant population from which to draw volunteers, and won't necessarily have military resources handy. But when you have a situation like that, SAR is a good deal, especially for a successfully retrieved victim.

Perhaps you can tell that this is a subject near and dear to me. Enough for now.