Union County SAR reports fewer searches but more rescues for 2023
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, January 4th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – Union County Search and Rescue (SAR) had a busy 2023 to say the least. In a recent social media post, Union County SAR shared some of their 2023 statistics showing a new trend in the types of emergencies they responded to.
For starters, UC SAR reportedly responded to 29 missions and conducted nearly 2,000 hours of training. Roughly 72% of SAR calls were in Union County while the remaining 28% involved assisting other regional SAR teams outside the county. As for what the missions involved, Union County SAR report that 55% of their 2023 calls were “categorized as rescue and recoveries while 45% of calls were initially reported as missing person incidents (searches).”
This follows a reported trend of more and more recreationists being able to maintain locational awareness, helped in part due to the increasing use of GPS tools among the public, leading to a reduction in search calls. Conversely, as more and more people begin to recreate, the rate of emergencies proportionally increases.
As always, the efforts of Search and Rescue wouldn’t be possible without the hard work and incredible dedication of its volunteers and community supporters. For information on SAR operations and what the community can do to help support them, see our previous article at https://elkhornmediagroup.com/search-and-rescue-is-ready-for-winter-but-they-can-always-use-more-help/
