CORRECTION: Please see highlighted updated copy below

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Updated: May 24, 2023 – Original: May 23, 2023

Commissioners Celebrate National Search & Rescue Week

(Douglas County, Ore.) – Douglas County Commissioners celebrated National Search & Rescue Week by issuing a proclamation to our dedicated Douglas County Search and Rescue (SAR) coordinators and volunteers prior to the business meeting on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, on the front steps of the Douglas County Courthouse.  The volunteers within Douglas County SAR operate under the direction of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, with the support of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners and members donate their time, skills, and expertise to help those in need.

Douglas County SAR currently has 88 community volunteers that train with the following volunteer SAR units in Douglas County: Communications Team, Mounted Team, Ground Team, 4x4 Team, Snow Cat Team, Amateur Radio Emergency Services Team, Dive Team, K-9 Team, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Team, Logistics Team, Mountain Rescue Team and Tracking Team.  The coordinators and volunteers within Douglas County SAR completed 107 missions in 2022, utilizing 97 volunteers who donated 10,718 hours of their time.  Missions included a remote horseback rescue in the Boulder Creek Wilderness area and a winter storm rescue of a hiker on Diamond Peak.  SAR also sent volunteers to Siskiyou County to help with the McKinney and Mill fires in 2022.

National Search & Rescue Week: First observed in May of 2010, National Search & Rescue Week (May 16-22, 2022) was established when the United States Senate passed a resolution and designated May 16–22 each year to honor our nation’s Search and Rescue personnel and volunteers.   Search and rescue organizations are composed of mainly volunteer experts in search and rescue and disaster response.   They come from a wide range of skilled backgrounds, including pilots, mountaineers, divers, urban technicians, dog handlers, backcountry horsemen, snowmobilers and ATVers.  The Commissioners presented National Search & Rescue Week proclamation certificates to Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin and SAR Deputy Larissa May in the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Douglas County Search & Rescue Volunteers: Mark Scott, Dick Shanahan, Richard Shorey, Carl Sweeden, Wendy Hagberg, Holly O’Dell, Mary Malone, Paul Vogel, Milton Bernheisel, Tim Ballard, Dennis Morehouse, Kyle Miller, Rick Fugate, Robert Braisted and John Rideout.

“As a proud member of our Douglas County Search and Rescue Team, I can personally speak to how rewarding the experience is and how much time these volunteers put into their training and missions.  As the volunteers know, but maybe not everyone else, SAR is not just something you show up and start doing.  There is a tremendous amount of training that is required for them to do this volunteer work.   Our Douglas County SAR volunteers are a group of highly trained and highly dedicated individuals that have stepped up, trained hard and dedicate themselves to do this critical life-saving work.  My fellow board members and I are extremely honored to recognize you all!”,” stated Commissioner Boice.  

A copy of the live video presentation can be found on the Douglas County Government Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/DouglasCountyeGovernment.

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Media Contact:     Tamara Howell, Douglas County Emergency Communications & Community Engagement Specialist, Douglas County Public Affairs Office | Office: (541) 957-4896 | Cell: (541) 670-2804 | Email: tjhowell@co.douglas.or.us

Attached: Proclamation & Photos © K.Trenkle/Douglas County.