April in the Library

Harry Cure is an outstanding example.  He serves with the County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (S.A.R.) Team; seven years here in Jackson County and seven years in Deschutes County in their Dryland, Water, and Snow units.  In one example he was involved in a 1:00 a.m. rescue of a missing skier on Mt. Ashland with snowmobiles, snowcats, and snowshoes needed. He also was involved in the snow rescue of a hunting couple who had been lost for three days in the Prospect area.  Missing persons range from young children to Alzheimer’s patients.

S.A.R. is a state mandated responsibility of the Sheriff’s Office.  It requires six months of training before acceptance plus 24 hour on-call readiness.  Team members ride horses, camp, and endure temperature and other weather  extremes.  They hike, drive A.T.V.s,  climb up cliffs and down caves, and participate in rope rescues.  Team members also may be involved in urban events.  In addition they are technically astute, using navigational aids, global positioning systems (G.P.S.), and various computer programs.

The Manor book collection has little to offer specifically about volunteers, but has a number of books about first responders.  Bibliographer Janice Williams has identified a number of fiction and non-fiction books about firefighters, zoo keepers, search and rescue dogs, E.R. Nurses, soldiers, and others.  Below are some intriguing titles:

The Winter Soldier, by Daniel Mason

Young Men and Fire, by Norman MacClean

The Zookeeper’s Wife, by D. Ackerman

The Rescue, by Nicholas Sparks

The Death of a Nurse, by M. C.Beaton

Kudos to all of our real volunteers and first responders!  Pictured is Harry Cure.