Happy April Fool’s Day to my fellow mountain rescuers!

We all know that mountain rescue is serious business. As rescuers, we work very hard to project the image of ourselves as dedicated, non-paid professionals. And while we always tackle the mission at hand with complete seriousness, I feel that we desperately need to avoid taking OURSELVES too seriously.

I am a member of Colorado’s Alpine Rescue Team. We like to think of ourselves as highly skilled, well-trained non-paid professional rescuers. But if you look closely at the walls of our headquarters (AKA The Shack), tucked in between the official proclamations of thanks from politicians, yellowed newspaper clippings tacked to the wall, and next to photos of our ice-rimed members waving summit flags atop the world’s high peaks- you’ll find a framed photo from the 80s of eight of our members (male and female) mooning the camera at the base of an ice climb. Can you imagine the look on your boss’ face in Corporate America USA, Inc. if you put a photo of eight pairs of (blindingly white) cheeks on the wall of your cubicle for all the world to see?

Probably not.

And look! Next to all the fancy brass and glass plaques from the local Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and the Red Cross – it’s a gnarled bristlecone pine tree trunk adorned with various trinkets and artifacts including, but not limited to: a chunk of melted aluminum (from a torched snowmobile), broken toy helicopters, busted toy snowmobiles, a cracked aircraft altimeter, a sticker that reads “emergency helicopter exit only” and the tag cut from one of our mission leaders’ Fruit of the Loom white bikini brief underwear. This is our team’s inglorious monument to our failures and embarrassing moments as mountain rescuers. It is lovingly known to Alpine members as the Windy Peak “Aw Shit!” Award, and the trinkets hanging from it are the contributions of past recipients.

This award symbolizes so many things that I truly love about mountain rescue. First and foremost, it is a recognition of our humanity. Our fallibility. It also symbolizes that cherished spirit of true irreverence that runs crookedly through the heart of mountain rescue. I feel that the “Aw Shit!” Award, bestowed each year upon the team member who had the year’s biggest goof-up, is our most important award. (And yes, I am a previous winner – DON’T ask). It serves as our yearly reminder to both honor that irreverent spirit of mountain rescue’s independent nature, and to lighten the hell up. For in mountain rescue, sometimes our sense of humor is the only weapon we have at our disposal when we are faced with tragedy in the backcountry. The temptation to take things too seriously is sometimes a strong one, and one that we must avoid if we hope to remain happy and sane while doing our important work in the place I like to call RescueWorld.

Ernest Hemingway is famous for saying, “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” And though mountaineering could be thought of as a sport, it is most certainly not a TEAM sport. It’s a solo endeavor performed by individuals. And so it goes that mountain rescue teams can be thought of as extensions of these free-spirited mountaineering individuals.

Hell, given the fiercely independent nature of most mountain rescue teams in the U.S., it’s a wonder to me that a national organization like the MRA exists at all sometimes.  

For just as the mountains attract many hikers, climbers and mountaineers who march to the beat of a different drummer, so it goes for many of the men and women who sign on to help those having a bad day while enjoying the freedom of the hills.

The very dynamic and eclectic nature of non-paid professional mountain rescue itself often cries out for an eccentric and unconventional approach. It follows that those who are drawn to this type of service for lost or injured hikers, climbers and skiers in the mountains might be a little … off as well.

In fact, the more time you spend around almost any volunteer mountain rescue team in the world, you’ll find that most of us possess (and sometimes flaunt) a strong sense of independent irreverence that you won’t likely find in EMS organizations that are dependent on mill levies or those that are forced to march to the PC beat of a Human Resource (HR) Department.

And God help mountain rescue the day that we have an HR Department.

(Hold on for a moment here while I step up onto my soapbox.) The way I see it, if you can’t go to the mountains or the backcountry and let your hair down once in a while (whether to recreate or to rescue), where else is left? In our politically correct society’s quest to never offend ANYONE, we’ve taken a lot of fun away from EVERYONE. (OK, sorry about that, I’m stepping back down now.)

In non-paid professional mountain rescue, this kind of financial and institutional independence is essential to the survival of each and every volunteer organization. As the Langdale-Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team (from the Lake District in Britain) says on their website, “Self-funding means freedom - to experiment, to acquire the best equipment for the job, freedom from bureaucratic interference and cost-cutting to which so many public services have fallen victim, and freedom to enjoy the team spirit which rewards and respects initiative and competence in a way which binds and disciplines a team to the ultimate benefit of all.”

So just who are these people who dedicate and donate so much of their time and effort “that other might live”? And what motivates them?

I’ve noticed two distinct personality traits that seem to be present in the folks who dedicate years of their life in service to mountain rescue. 

First of all, those who give that much of their lives to mountain rescue simply love helping people.Though a love of the backcountry and a deep respect for the awesome might of nature are important traits found in the mountain rescuer, it is their obsessive desire to help their fellow human beings that keeps the career mountain rescuer going year after year after year. After all, it is not unusual for most mountain rescue teams to go a couple of months with absolutely no calls, and if you joined mountain rescue strictly for the thrills, this is when you are likely to discover that you’d rather be climbing or skiing than sitting through yet another classroom presentation on line search techniques. From what I’ve seen, this is why adrenaline junkies make for terrible rescuers. These folks eventually discover that there’s a lot of standing around going on in mountain rescue, and that they’d rather be out recreating than being stuck back at Operations shuffling around in a parking lot inhaling diesel fumes from the rescue truck while waiting for a field assignment.

Secondly, career mountain rescuers have a screw loose-and I say that with the utmost respect. Professional mountain rescue has come a long way since its humble beginnings across the pond. But even with all the modernization of mountain rescue techniques and tools – and the equally modern concept of risk management – it is still a dangerous undertaking at times. It follows that those willing put themselves at risk for total strangers, year after year, with no financial reward or loaded gun to their head, are cut from a different cloth.

Like the bumper sticker says, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.”

Or, as Joseph Conrad once said, “There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.” 

And so it goes for the life in the mountains, dedicated to mountain rescue. 

In closing, I urge my mountain rescue comrades to savor the one day of the year that you are not only permitted-but encouraged- to play the fool. To let your freak flag fly.

So I say to my fellow mountain rescuers, remember to lighten the hell up-and may you always be a little…off.

Tom Wood is a 15-year veteran of the Alpine Rescue Team in Evergreen, CO and works as the Training Manager for Vertical Rescue Solutions by PMI. The preceding post contains material from his upcoming memoir: “Trading Steel for Stone: Tales of a Rustbelt Refugee Turned Rocky Mountain Rescuer”. This post does not reflect the opinions of the ART, the MRA, PMI or-quite possibly- anyone else, for that matter.

And fellow mountain rescuers-feel free to comment below and share your own rescue team’s odd or unique characters, traditions or awards.

The Public Information Officer in Search and Rescue

What is a Public Information Officer? A Public Information Officer (“PIO”) is a representative of an official organization.  This person serves as a central source of information for release by the department and responds to requests for information by the news media and the community.

In search and rescue operations, the PIO might be a representative of any number of organizations, including: 

1. The local law enforcement entity (frequently the county sheriff or state police); 

2. The local search and rescue organization; or,

3. The regional or state search and rescue organization. 

In any SAR incident, the PIO serves a number of important roles: 

1. Assisting news personnel in covering incidents; 

2. Assisting the news media on an oncall basis; 

3. Preparing and distributing news releases; 

4. Arranging for, and assisting at, news conferences; 

5. Coordinating and authorizing the release of information about victims and incidents; 

6. Assisting in crisis situations within the agency 

7. Coordinating the release of authorized information concerning agency operations 

8. Posting, monitoring and managing the use of Social Media outlets

As you can see from the list above, the primary purpose of the PIO is to provide a central source of information to the media.  At the same time, the PIO serves another equally important role of keeping others in positions of authority and leadership from having to deal with the media while performing their duties. 

It is the role of the PIO to answer the most common questions, those of “who, what, when, where, why, how, how come?”  The PIO then goes on to describe what the various agencies are doing about the situation. Because sharing information with the media can be a difficult job, SAR organizations should be certain to provide necessary and appropriate training for all individuals that might serve in the capacity of PIO. 

Why is a PIO Important? 

The public demands, and indeed deserves, to be made aware of the circumstances and events associated with a SAR incident.  This is best accomplished through the media, which has direct and often immediate access to the public. Furthermore, proper public information at a SAR incident will enable the SAR authority to provide preventive SAR education to the public. 

Over the years, some SAR organizations have tried to avoid dealing with the media.  Some have been known to say, “The media NEVER gets it right.”  In fact, by avoiding the media, a SAR entity can rest assured that the media will not get it right.  Only by dealing directly with the media, in all it's forms, can we assure that the story is as close to accurate as possible. 

Who Makes a Good PIO?

First and foremost, a PIO needs to be very knowledgeable in the field of SAR operations.  For this reason, PIO’s should be chosen from among the veterans of a SAR organization.  Some people are natural teachers, and the role of PIO is somewhat a teaching role.  Still, the best teachers are those who are very well trained in the topic. 

In addition to experience, a PIO needs to have the proper balance of humility and self-confidence.  When he media or public see an egocentric rescuer in front of the camera, then the focus becomes the PIO and his/her agency not the message. 

A good PIO has great respect for the media.  Power comes through knowledge – knowledge that is shared, not knowledge that is kept.  The more respect a PIO has for the media, the better s/he will be at communicating the important messages to them. 

When choosing a PIO, any organization should ask who it wants to be the spokesperson for the group.  often, the most well respected individuals in the organization will be good candidates for PIO.  This is because the respect those individuals have gained over time is most often based on the combination of their personality, knowledge and expertise. Purposefully choose your PIO.  Take your time, and choose someone who is polished, professional, humble, and knowledgeable. 

General Guidelines 

It is true that “bad news travels faster than good news.”  Since most SAR incidents involve some bad news for the victims, the media is often quick to respond to our calls. While a SAR team’s PIO should be prepared at any time to respond to media calls regarding an incident, an experienced PIO will know the moment a SAR call is dispatched whether it will attract media attention. 

There is no such thing as a “media circus.”  The media professionals are there to do their job, and it becomes the PIO’s responsibility/opportunity to help them do their job.  A PIO should maintain an attitude of helpfulness at all times.  His/her perspective should always be, “I’m here to help you, and to make sure I get you the information I have.” Some level of excitement and adrenaline should always be present, so the PIO maintains focus.  A lazy or disinterested PIO makes a bad PIO.

Your PIO should also not ignore social media. Frequently, social media streams like Twitter and Facebook are breaking stories well before more traditional media outlets can get on scene. In some cases traditional media organizations like CNN and their iReport site are even "crowdsourcing" news.  Because of the nature of social media, these tools can be used not only to get your message out, but also to see how you message is being understood by the public. As it is two way communication, it can also be used to gather information. 

Consider posting missing person information and mission updates to your team Facebook Page and Twitter feeds but only do so with the authorization of the agency having jurisdiction. Because this can be done "in the moment" and from mobile devices, this can keep the public updated outside of the traditional media cycle.    

We will go more into Social Media for Search and Rescue at the joint MRA / NASAR Conference in June and will follow up with a blog post. 

Stay Safe!

For more information on how to effectively work with the media, check out the Mountain Rescue Associations rescuer education program http://mra.org/images/stories/docs/workingwithmedia.pdf 


Courage - Commitment - Compassion
     Mountain Rescue Association