What inspires someone to get into volunteer search and rescue? What motivates them to make a years or decades-long commitment? These are among many questions that Dr. Yuan Huang is asking in her research of volunteer SAR. Huang is a senior lecturer at Cardiff University in Wales, U.K. Her primary focus is operations management and has turned her eye to the rescue world. In 2021, a U.K. mountain rescue team rescued Huang after she was injured on a hike with her dog. This inspired an interest in rescue teams, how they work and how they sustain their capabilities over time. Huang is an avid reader of Meridian and is looking for MRA volunteers to interview about how they got into SAR, their experiences with their teams and what makes a high-performing, sustainable team.
Questions for interviewees include but are not limited to:
What kinds of resources are needed for mountain rescue teams?
How do you feel after different missions?
What keeps you involved in SAR?
Huang’s goal with this is to work her findings into her lectures on operations management as well as share stories in academic newsletters. She is working with both U.S. and U.K. – based teams for her project.
Interested persons can reach out directly by email to HuangY66@cardiff.ac.uk
