10 things most people don't know about search & rescue

1. 99% of us are volunteers. We never get paid a dime.
   
2. It is extremely physically demanding work. You never really know how hard you can push your body until you join SAR. Hiking for hours over rough terrain carrying hundreds of pounds of equipment with blisters on your feet and hands... it's all a part of the day's work.
   
3. Sleep is optional.
   
4. A person's SAR team is their second family. They will often see the team more than their real family and together the team will deal with things that only the team will ever understand the significance of.
   
5. Despite technology, our best tools are still our eyes & ears, our boots, and our backpacks.
   
6. Few people will ever understand the pure joy of getting someone home safe when everyone else thought they were long dead.
   
7. Few people will ever understand the pure agony of failing to find a lost person.
8. We spend much more time training than we do responding to calls. IT NEVER ENDS.
   
9. We are tied to a pager and on-call 24/7/365. Yes, that includes Christmas and your own birthday.
   
10. Despite doing challenging work for no pay and little thanks, we LOVE what we do. It is unbelievably rewarding.