The draw to serve others

As a leader for a small volunteer search and rescue one of the things I often struggle with is keeping member motivated and ethusiastic about the group. I think people often come into the organization expecting to immediately be called to action to help locate a missing child. What many people don't realize is the commitment that must be made to not only training, which will help ensure the safety of team members and the subject, but the necessary tasks that are needed to move the organization further and to help it grow. I am boggled by the fact that people choose to join the group and than are not willing to participate in any of the activities.

One of the side-effects of this behavior is the impression that it leaves on new perspective members. During a meeting, when no one volunteers to assist with a routine administrative duties the new perspective member interprets that to mean the group is not interested in performing even the simpliest of functions needed to keep itself coherent.

I sat in the meeting on another organization the other day. This volunteer group had nothing to do with SAR but another area that I am interested in. Throughout this meeting, the coordinator discussed tasks that needed to be done. The tasks that were being requested were directly linked to what the organization was all about. Like asking a group a baseball players if the wanted to play baseball. Over and over again the coordinator was met with silence when looking for someone to perform the requested tasks. Why were these people here if they did not want to do anything? I chose not to return to the group because no one was interested is helping the group grow. This sceanrio is one that I often face with my SAR team.

So the big question I have is what motivates people to serve others? More specifically, why do people get involved in search and rescue?

We all know it is not for the pay as most SAR teams are composed of volunteers. At first read the answer may seem simple..."to help others", but is that really the answer or is that enough of an answer. If it is than you need to ask yourself at what price? Are you only willing to help when it is convient to you (More on this later)? Or maybe more importantly, are you only willing to do certain tasks?

Many that join SAR teams expect action, adventure and excitement, but what they do not realize is there are lots of underlying duties that need to be performed in order to ensure you are able to do your job safely and to make sure you are actually given a chance to do your job (More on this later). Various administartive duties are required in order to keep the group functional. More on this later.

So what is your answer? why are you get involved in search and rescue?

Welcome

Hi...and thanks fo visiting my Blog. I am currently the chairman of the Mountaineer Area Rescue Group (http://www.sargroup.info). This is a wilderness search and rescue group based in Morgantown, WV and is a member of the Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference (http://www.asrc.net).

I have been involved with the group for approximately eight years in a variety of roles from training officer to now chairman. The intent of this Blog is provide an avenue for me to record some thoughts about the fundamental process of serach and rescue. In particular the use of technology, such as Geographic Information System (GIS) software (www.esri.com), geographic position system (GPS - www.garmin.com), computer netowrking and various other applications.