Volunteers balance home, public service

Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteers must be available to help others - even when it puts their own lives on hold.

"I received an emergency call at 3 a.m. the other morning for a medical evacuation," said volunteer Michelle Barber. "When you have three young kids that is not an easy situation. But that's what we volunteered to do so we do it."

Barber and her Search and Rescue partner for this operation, Fred Gerke, were at Black Butte Ranch two weeks ago, July 10, volunteering to help almost 4,000 people living there prepare for a possible evacuation if the Link Fire came another mile closer.

"This is our job," said Gerke, a four-year SAR veteran. "We signed on as volunteers to help in cases like this. We never know where or when we will be needed, but we're ready and available, 24 hours a day, seven days a week." he said.

Barber has three children, ages seven, four and one.

She said that her husband, Wes, was also working somewhere on the Ranch at the same time she was there.

"He is also a member of the Deschutes County Search and Rescue team. Sometimes we trade off on babysitting, but tonight we are both here at Black Butte Ranch so we had to get a neighbor to help us. She is also a volunteer, not for Search and Rescue but for us, so we can help others" Barber said.

"We may not see each other until we return our truck to the Sheriff's Department. Or, probably until we both get home, whenever that maybe," she said.

When the Barbers get a call, it could be for one or both of them. The first thing they do is head for the Sheriff's Office to find out where they're going and what they need to take with them in the way of equipment.

Gerke is in the financial and insurance services business with New York Life in their Bend office.

"My son, Steve, got me into this SAR thing," he said. "Steve was a Search and Rescue volunteer for five years before he went into the Air Force."

Gerke said that his son is now stationed in Japan.

"I've been an outdoor person most of my life," Gerke said. "Steve told me that he thought I would enjoy doing this work and he was right."

Gerke also has a daughter, Mary, trying to find a teaching job in or near Portland.

Barber studied Fish and Wildlife Management at Montana State. She is originally from Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

"Now, I'm a stay-at-home mom," she said.

An observer noted that as a Search and Rescue team member, those words are a dichotomy.

She and her husband came here from Roseberg two years ago.

The sheriff's office said they are always looking for new recruits. The minimum age is 21 years. Search and Rescue requires a 70-hour study at their academy.

There is an 80-hour medical course plus the requirement to learn practical outdoor skills such as basic rope systems and wildfire evacuation procedures. Each SAR member is expected to provide his or her own personal equipment and supplies, according to their local web site.

There are five teams in the Deschutes County program. One is a general ground operation. Another specializes in winter search and rescue. The third handles medical evacuation. Mountaineering is another specialty along with water rescues requiring scuba diving. There is also a canine division, the report stated.

For more information and an application go to: www.co.deschutes.or.us/sheriff. Click on Special Services.