A Teacher’s Thoughts

This past weekend a family member became lost in a wooded, swampy area. Search crews were called in. Searchers arrived by the dozens. A field command station was created and my family housed, secured from the media in a comfortable location. The hours went by. The first search turned up nothing. Same for the second search. Ten hours in the woods and in need of attention our loved one was no where to be found. The search was widened and I emailed photos to local news stations asking for help in locating our loved one.

Then through the window we saw crews moving more quickly. ATVs appeared and were loaded with a litter. The person in charge of our care came in and said what we all were hoping and praying for “he’s alive”.

The emotions of that day are still strong with all of us and will continue to be for a long time. Were it not for the efforts of the dedicated men and women of these rescue groups our outcome would not have been the same. And while we people can understand our own desires to help others in such situations, it is the help of a totally different searcher that lead to our joy. A yellow lab, trained to find people, searched through an area previously search twice by humans. The dog found our family member. These animals are more amazing to me now than ever before and these crews of rescue dogs deserve the same thanks that is so easily given to their human counterparts.

In all there were over one hundred people involved, helicopters, fire and rescue crews, search crews, and numerous state and local agencies, and many volunteers, some who traveled long distances to join the search. To everyone of you I offer my most sincere thank you for all that you do. I wish that I had a full list of all the agencies and groups involved by alas I have only this short list below. For those of you not mentioned, my thanks is no less.

The search involved individuals from:
• Central New Hampshire Special Operations Unit
• state Fish and Game, State Police
• The New England K-9 Search and Rescue
• Merrimack County Sheriff’s Department
• Chichester police department
• Pembroke police department
• Epsom police department
• Loudon police department