Office Ultimate 2007 Key blog search-and-rescue

[buisness0243]

After a personal tragedy, Safety Plan Supervisor Brian Harden began to volunteer his time for you to King County’s Search and Rescue team.
By Jake Siegel

October 13, 2008

As a volunteer with King County Search and Rescue, Brian Harden is often at the mercy of the elements. But the cold, the rain, and the snow are all temporary discomforts. The reason he goes out there is simple and summed up by the Search and Rescue motto: So that others may live.

“When I’m standing around freezing, I remind myself the person out there is in a lot more pain,” said Harden,Microsoft Office 2007 Professional Plus, a protection program manager. “Why am I complaining? I’ve got work to do.”

For the past four years, Harden has volunteered his time for King County Search and Rescue in the 4x4 unit,Office 2010 Code, which provides transport, communications, protection, and vehicle search support during rescue missions. A private tragedy led to his involvement with Search and Rescue. A close friend, Josh Cohen, was flying his plane when he crashed off the Oregon coast. When the plane washed ashore, Josh’s passenger was found, but there was no sign of Harden’s friend. For weeks, two Search and Rescue units from two states looked for Josh, and Harden was impressed by their commitment day in and day out. Sadly, Josh’s body was discovered, but his friends and family had a sense of closure.

Harden also came away from the tragedy with respect for the Search and Rescue volunteers and their mission. “I thought, ‘I love the outdoors. I should do this,’” he recalled. “It’s something that needs doing. If I was in the same situation out there, I’d want to know people were coming to get me.”

And that’s what Harden does, on his own time and at his own expense. Friends and coworkers are often surprised that Search and Rescue is an entirely volunteer organization. “A lot of people just assume we get our funding from the sheriff’s department,” he said. “Actually, we don’t. Everything is entirely funded by donations.”

Considering the cost of getting a helicopter in the air just for an hour can quickly run into thousands of dollars, those donations become critical to Search and Rescue’s operations. Harden hopes to highlight Search and Rescue’s mission as well as its reliance on donations during the Giving Campaign. “I got involved with the Giving Campaign for the same reason I joined Search and Rescue,” Harden said. “I’ve always been impressed with the support Microsoft gives to nonprofits as well as employees who donate their own time.”

As part of the Campaign, Harden helped organize the Redwest nonprofit fair, which will bring about a dozen local organizations to the Redwest café on October 23. The current economic situation is really hurting nonprofits, Harden said,Office Ultimate 2007 Key, and he hopes the fair will bring attention and donations to the groups that don't have the recognition national groups such as the United Way and the Red Cross have.

In the meantime, Harden is always ready to head out at a moment’s notice to join his unit. While some missions have a happy ending, some sadly do not. To deal mentally, Harden and his fellow volunteers talk. "You have to work through it," he said. "Even though you don’t know these people directly,Office 2010 Standard Key, in a way you become involved with their lives." Once,Microsoft Office Standard 2007, a week before Christmas, Harden assisted with a Search and Rescue mission after a helicopter crash. Over the course of the operation, he got to know the people who had been on board through their friends. When it turned out all three passengers had died, Harden was haunted by nightmares.

Still, Harden and his fellow volunteers get back out there whenever they’re called. He knows his friend Josh, who had volunteered with California Air Patrol, would be proud of the work he’s doing. “You remind yourself you’re fighting the good fight, doing good work,” Harden said. “Even if you just find the body, you’re providing closure. We’re all out there for the same reason: to help those in need.”

Learn more about King County Search and Rescue and about Harden’s unit.