Season’s Greetings. I hope everyone has had an enjoyable holiday. Now it’s back to the grind of our workaday world. Your board has been working on several projects over the last few months. We are looking into the feasibility of creating regional FEMA response teams. These teams would be made up of members from various
Greetings fellow MRA Members, I hope all of you had a safe and enjoyable summer. As we head into the fall, the board has a few avenues that it is exploring. With the deployment of FEMA teams to recent disasters, the question has arisen as to whether the MRA might be able to create a
Fellow MRA Members, I want to thank the Marin County SAR members who made the Spring SAR Exercise such a successful event. It was a lovely venue with many different tracks of interest to all. I would have liked to clone myself to attend all the field and class sessions – which is why it
Greetings, I hope all of you were able to enjoy the winter season. We’ve had a very different winter in Alaska this year as our climate is definitely changing. At the winter business meeting we asked for suggestions on how the membership could become more engaged with the MRA. There were more than a dozen
I hope everyone has had an enjoyable holiday season. As we begin this new year, the MRA membership will have an opportunity to determine how they can be more engaged in the business of the organization. Previously, each member team had one vote on matters before the board. The Officers Committee dealt with any matters
First, I want to thank all of you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your President. I will strive to live up to the standards set by our previous leaders. Second, I want to thank Alison for her service during the past two years and her guidance in preparing me for the role.
Dear MRA, This is my last president’s message. As we move on to the next chapter of our organization, I want to thank all of you for your support over my two-year term. It has been an honor and a privilege to be leading such an amazing group of people. The MRA mission statement: “The
In Italy last October, the ICAR Medical Commission drafted recommendations for operational stress injury in SAR. The work of mountain rescue is difficult with many technical skills required but the psychological wellbeing of the humans involved is what makes us effective in our teams. Rescue work is emotionally challenging, but it should not be emotionally
I had the good fortune to recently be in the San Juan mountains of Colorado. It was at the height of the fall color season and the aspens were glorious against the dusting of first snow on the high peaks. The change of seasons made me reflect on the changes ahead for the MRA. As
President’s Message I recently attended the Spring Conference and want to again thank Coconino County Sherriff’s Office Search and Rescue for the excellent event in Flagstaff. They were professional, organized, helpful and appeared to enjoy working together! There were lots of new faces at the conference and the pre-conference events were very well attended. For
Saving lives is not easy work. And yes, mountain rescue is about saving lives. You all know the difficulties- the anxious call outs, the search before the rescue, the long approaches, operating technical systems in the dark, the blood, and sometimes worse. Then there is paperwork, training, recruitment, equipment maintenance, the budget and all the
President’s Message Saving lives is not easy work. And yes, mountain rescue is about saving lives. You all know the difficulties- the anxious call outs, the search before the rescue, the long approaches, operating technical systems in the dark, the blood, and sometimes worse. Then there is paperwork, training, recruitment, equipment maintenance, the budget
President’s message- I’m writing this after a busy 4th of July weekend and reflecting on my new role as president of the MRA. It is quite an honor to be in the position and I appreciate the support I have had from all of you on my journey here. Yesterday I was sweating and working
Professionalism within our community What is professionalism and how does it apply to Mountain Rescue? This is a question that I’ve been pondering lately. I think we all would consider ourselves as experienced mountaineers, climbers and backcountry travelers. Likewise, I think we all consider ourselves skilled rescuers which is demonstrated and backed up by your
In the Spring of 2021, we created a Leadership and Relationship Development committee. This committee was created because leadership and relationship development are skills and like all skills they require development, training and practice in order to maintain and improve. In the corporate world I have had the opportunity to experience both good and bad
This year, my team, Rocky Mountain Rescue, celebrated our 75th year providing SAR services to the Boulder County, Colorado community and beyond. We had a weekend of festivities, and past members from all over the country came by. It was a great time, and I must have looked at more than 5,000 photos putting presentations
How many of you have ever heard someone ask, “What does the MRA do for me?” If you’re like me, it’s happened more than once, and at least in my experience, it usually comes from people who are new to mountain rescue. Having been asked this question many times over the years, I realized I
