ST. GEORGE — A reduction in search and rescue calls, compensation for volunteers and new sheriff’s deputies hired on to provide back up for search and rescue responses are among the factors credited with helping reduce burn out among members of the Washington County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team.

As the end of 2022 draws near, search and rescue calls in Washington County are on track to match pre-pandemic numbers.

So far this year, Washington County Sheriff’s Sgt. Darrell Cashin said the county’s search and rescue team has responded to 114 calls, adding he anticipates there being up to 130 calls by year’s end. That would place the 2022 totals at or near 2019’s total of 130.

The following year saw an all time high in search and rescue calls – up to 170 – as tourists from across Utah and neighboring states poured into the county for outdoor recreational opportunities. Unlike other states that had closed their outdoor venues due to the pandemic, Washington County and much of the state remained open for business.

“Because other states around us – Colorado being the first, then California – locked down a bunch of their state parks and beaches, a lot of people who wanted to be outside said, ‘Hey, let’s go to Southern Utah,’” Washington County Commissioner Gil Almquist said at the time.

Cashin reported to the commission that some search and rescue operations were beginning to take place on a near-daily basis and had him worried that the county’s search and rescue volunteers may get burned out and not respond to calls as much as they had in the past.

In addition to the near-constant roll out, many of the volunteers also had regular jobs they ended up leaving for hours at a time, if not most of the day.

“I am concerned. I am deeply concerned,” Cashin told the County Commission in October 2020. “The amount of calls, how fast they are coming – I’m getting less and less people (able) to respond… It’s not a question of willingness. It’s a question of how many times can you leave work. This is becoming almost every day… I feel like we’re running head-on into a brick wall and we can see it coming, but I don’t have the answers. I don’t know what to do.”

While 2021 saw a drop in search and rescue calls to around 150 for the year, worries over volunteer burn out persisted and Cashin pushed for some form of compensation for his volunteers.

“We were calling them so much,” Cashin said.

Cashin’s efforts results in a compensation program adopted by the County Commission as a part of the county’s 2022 budget that provides $50-$100 per search and rescue response based on the call and the volunteer’s experience.

“That solved the problem,” Cashin said, adding that while “no one does this for the money,” the new compensation helped.

Now, when a search and rescue call is made, it isn’t uncommon to get a large response from volunteers where there may have been some hesitation before, he said.

“I haven’t had any issues since,” Cashin said. “It’s been great.”

Also helping lessen the overall workload is the addition of new deputies with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office who work and train with the county’s search and rescue team and provide back up when necessary. These deputies patrol the more rural parts of the county and the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

The new deputies also allow to Cashin a break himself occasionally and not be on near-constant call to roll out with the rest of the county’s search and rescue team.

“I feel like I’m getting some relief,” he said.

The county’s search and rescue team responses to a bevy of calls ranging from finding stranded or lost and injured hikers, helping the victims of mountain bike, UTV or ATV crashes and the occasional body recovery, as well as other incidents. Members of the search and rescue team can also be called out to certain incidents where authorities believe their expertise is required.

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