News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Pickett County’s Volunteer Rescue Squad received over $1,200 in donations from a collection box set up at Sunset Marina.
Rescue Squad Captain Garry Garrett said even though the city and county provide money, donations to the rescue squad make their work possible. Garrett said getting the support of the people they volunteer to help, allows the rescue squad members to answer their calling.
“Donations is what we use to operate and without operating we couldn’t do it, so I mean we couldn’t help people,” Garrett said. “That’s the reason that all of us does it is to help the people of Pickett County and the people who visit Pickett County.”
Garrett said that while donating money helps, a big issue these days is finding new volunteers who commit to answering the call to help for free, and at all hours. He said that luckily a majority of calls are for recovering people.
“We’ve been pretty thankful, for the last couple of years we’ve not had any lake rescues that we’ve been out on, we very seldom get to do a rescue,” Garrett said. “We’re more of recovery, I guess is what you would call it, if somebody’s lost out on the lake or something, we go out and help find them.”
Garrett said as time passes, finding people willing to join the rescue squad is more difficult. Garrett said it’s a tough schedule to be available for.
“Its a calling, who likes getting up in the middle of the night, to go out and look for somebody or get out in the middle of the night to go help somebody,” Garrett said. “There’s not a lot of people that will do it anymore, I mean that’s one of our biggest problems now is getting volunteers.”
Garrett said the Pickett County Rescue Squad holds meetings where potential volunteers are welcome to join, which he said is the biggest way to help. However, Garret said monetary donations keep operations running, repaying those who worked to make the rescue squad a reality.
