Scientists have proven that adrenal glands respond faithfully to the appearance of an orange shirt and MRA patch. This response is akin to opening a floodgate holding back the Sea of Excitement. While mostly it's newer Search & Rescue people that are affected, even older hands are known to occasionally suffer. If you're not careful, your natural desire to get there can overrule caution.
Few of us have been trained to drive "CODE". Nor are any of us in anyway authorized to exceed speed limits, or run red lights. Yet more than a few Search & Rescue people will, at some point in their careers, take absurd risks with the safety of themselves and other motorists while responding to a call.
Learning to control the natural adrenaline rush of an emergency call is more than difficult. Keep in mind that the few minutes or seconds you save will have little effect on the victim. Hours have typically passed between the victim falling down, and someone hiking out to report it. There are rare exceptions, but our victims tend to be stable when we find them. I'm not telling you the victim is not going to die without help, most will. Rather I'm saying that the immediacy of that death has been relieved greatly by the passage of the GOLDEN HOUR following injury. Even in the rare case where the GOLDEN HOUR has not elapsed, your getting into traffic accidents, or being cited for speeding, won't help the victim.
Another critical consideration for volunteers is that we serve at the whim and pleasure of higher authority. Speeders with Search & Rescue stickers all over the truck, car, etc project a bad image to other motorists. If we display ourselves as being incapable of just getting to the rendezvous point without breaking laws and endangering the public, then who could blame a County Sheriff for telling us to butt out?
If you can't control your excitement, STOP THE CAR! When you are able to proceed safely and lawfully, please do. Your help is needed, out there, somewhere.
Once you have mastered self control and safe driving habits, you
can begin to use driving time effectively. Much can be done in
mental preparation. For myself this involves careful listening to
radios. I use the information I glean from radios to fine tune my
pack, planning what to take out or put in when I land a
rendezvous. The more I hear about the call, the better I can
estimate my probable assignment. Numerous are the occasions where
I have been able to suggest to the Operations Leader my best use
for the call, all based upon the work I did while driving. The
golden rule for what to do while driving to a call out? Simply:
LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN!
Even without the radio gadgetry, I can still use this time effectively to consider my present state of physical ability. Responding in the morning, after a good nights sleep, is quite different from leaving my workplace after a 12 hour shift. Other realities I still have trouble paying attention to are economic. A Search & Rescue volunteers expenses are largely tax deductible. Yet I have a hell of a time remembering gas and food receipts, among other expenses.
Excitement and memory lapses are closely linked. Remember to tell someone, or leave a message, saying where you are going. Some folks (never me of course!) have been known (and whipped for it) for leaving in a hurry and forgetting about appointments, dates, meetings etc.
On to CHAPTER THREE...
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