Two-thirds of Colorado search and rescue survey respondents nearing burnout, recent study shows
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Search and rescue volunteers don't get paid to find lost, injured or dead travelers in backcountry areas and along with stress of the job comes limited resources, recruiting new members and constant fundraising for operational costs.
Those factors have many volunteers close to being burned out by the responsibility, according to a recent survey by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
According to the study, surveys and interviews requests to an estimated 2,800 volunteers found that out of 750 who responded, two-thirds -- around 500 -- are at risk of burnout.
State lawmakers asked for the study last year, with a goal of determining funding solutions and addressing concerns related to workers' compensation, retirement, and mental and physical health.
"We're quite lucky on this team," said Jay Christianson, of El Paso County Search and Rescue. "We actually have an in-built critical incident stress management team as part of our response plan, which could be a reason why we're lucky at not dealing with a high level of burnout."
Kris Hagler, of Fremont County Search and Rescue, said that her team doesn't have the same amount of resources but makes do with what's available.
"I would say that the biggest resource is just the debriefing (after a rescue)," she said. "The time that we can kind of discuss together if we have a particularly difficult mission."
Colorado has approximately 50 volunteer search and rescue organizations that donate a half-million hours and spend more than $4 million of their own money for equipment, fuel and training every year.
A limited annual amount of $500,000 is allocated to those organizations by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, but a key recommendation of the study is to shift funding to CPW where the potential for greater allocations exists.
The burnout situation may have a larger impact on smaller search and rescue groups in rural areas; El Paso and Fremont County search and rescues said Tuesday they're not experiencing as much near-burnout and stress as some other groups.
