By Serena Aubrey
January 13, 2010
Comox Valley volunteers are to be commended for their civic minded activities when flooding threatens our community.
Last week I was walking down the estuary path, past the marina, when I saw a Kodiak style boat being loaded back up on a trailer, pulled by a truck that had COMOX VALLEY GROUND SEARCH & RESCUE emblazoned on its sides.
Curious, I thought maybe someone had fallen into the river and a tragedy was unfolding with a possible horrid outcome. I asked the young man loading the boat if they were on a rescue or if they were just on a training exercise. Surprisingly, he said that no, they were out picking up debris that had been swept down the river by the rising waters. Things like propane tanks, picnic tables, garbage cans, shopping carts.
Things, ordinary people like myself, don't even think could happen. I did watch a seal clipping along in the current and thought to myself, my he certainly does not have to put much effort into his swimming today. I gave absolutely no thought to the possibility that maybe he was keeping his head above water to try and dodge a propane tank missile, or maybe a picnic table that would slam into him and twist his sleek body into a broken victim of the flooding.
Shame has been dogging me ever since I saw this group of volunteers. I don’t pitch in. I admit it. It has never bothered me before, but this time, for some reason, I feel less of a person in comparison to these individuals who take time from their own lives to do good works for the betterment of our community.
I googled the CVGSAR website to find out more about them. This is a 100% volunteer driven association of good citizens who take the time to train and learn what they need to know in order to save people, to educate people, and to keep the community organized in case of natural disasters. Except for office rent and utilities (covered by the Regional District of Strathcona) they operate solely on donations.
Every year, new candidates are interviewed, given a three month trial ride-along, and if judged suitable, they then undertake a 75-hour course over another three months to learn map reading, navigation, swift water rescue, avalanche rescue, and outdoor survival.
Other volunteers work at auxiliary tasks that support the field teams. They man the phones, operate the radios, transport the field teams, and feed hungry searchers.
Hmmm. All while I sit at home in my insulated environment hardly giving any thought to the real life drama drifting right by my window, along the river I enjoy looking at. Selfish springs to mind, self-centered, uncaring.
I looked further into the scope of the search and rescue volunteer community, and I found that province wide there are 13,000 caring, civic-minded people who give of their time, their energy, and of their love for community and people.
If you check out the incident log on the provincial website you can see in hard figures exactly how many times these good folks are called out, and how many times they save people and communities from disaster and heartbreak.
Perhaps I can redeem myself a little bit, by writing articles about volunteer groups who give of themselves. Perhaps I can publish website URL’s to lead other people to this information and perhaps I can give out addresses to send donations to:
Box 3511
Courtenay, BC V9N 5N5
http://www.cvgsar.com/
250-334-3211
1 comment:
Hello Serena,
Excellent post on the CV Ground Search and Rescue. Yes, you are right about how many people take the good things in life for granted, when in fact there are volunteers working behind the scenes making life better for all of us.
What a wonderful ripple effect. Thanks the story.
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