SEASAR looking for a few more of the right people

By Mo Cranker on August 25, 2017.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

One of Medicine Hat’s most relied upon volunteer groups is holding a recruitment event Sept. 17 from 2-5 p.m. at the airport’s maintenance area in hopes of getting a few more people signed up.

South East Alberta Search and Rescue is entirely operated by volunteers and is hoping to entice some locals to look into joining the team.

“The idea of it really is to get a full-court press out about who SEASAR is and what we do,” said president Paul Carolan. “The second part of this event is that our board has made it so any potential members have to go through a briefing just so they have a clear idea about what the opportunity is like.”

Carolan joined SEASAR in 2012 before taking the role of president three years ago. He says he knows being a part of SEASAR is not going to appeal to the masses, but hopes the group can reach a few more by holding a recruiting event.

“We realize that this isn’t the opportunity for everyone,” he said. “We’re aware that not everyone can get called out at 2 a.m. on a Thursday night in blizzard-like conditions — it’s just not for everyone. We just want to make sure people can get that information, ask questions and really settle into this and make sure it’s exactly what you want.”

Carolan says almost anyone can find a position within SEASAR due to the vast amount of roles that need to be filled on each call-out.

“The thing about search and rescue, and that a call can be made at any time, is that we really need so many different kinds of people on board,” he said. “It’s Thursday afternoon. I’m at work. If a call is made right now, it’s going to be hard for me to leave work, go out to the call, get enough rest and then come back to work and do my actual job.

“We need people that can respond at any time. The demographic we need for our volunteers is exactly as wide as the demographic of people we’re looking for. We’re always recruiting, to a degree.”

For more information on SEASAR go to seasar.ca.

11
-10

Comments are closed.