A friend of mine posted the following comment on social media recently that resonated with me.

No one here is “just a volunteer”. You are in a life saving organization.

That’s quite an insight.

You’re not “just a volunteer”. This goes for SAR members, and volunteer fire fighters; PEP Air, and Royal Canadian Marine SAR members — we’re part of the public safety system, and we’re the lifeline to many people who would otherwise suffer and die every year if we weren’t there.

We’re not just volunteers. We have an obligation to maintain a certain level of performance, and to meet standards of safety. Our first duty is to keep ourselves and our team mates safe, and our second duty is to the subject, to rescue them. We have a tradition of safety to maintain, promote, and to pass down to the next generation of SAR volunteers.

We’re not just volunteers, we’re the last hope, and sometimes the only hope a lost person or their family has. That’s a grave responsibility. It’s something I think about at the beginning of every task.

I don’t think “I’m just a volunteer.”

If SAR members seem passionate about their volunteer work, it’s because we’re not just volunteers. We’re dedicated fanatics, we’re unpaid professionals, we’re lunatics who spend our free time training for things that rarely happen.

When that unlikely event occurs; when the person gets lost or injured, when the natural disaster happens, we will be there to help. And then forgotten until the next time we’re needed.

National Volunteer Week was last week. Remember that volunteers like SAR and in other areas are here year round, adding 50 billion in annual economic value for Canadians.