SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – There’s a quote Ernie Cowan told ABC 10News he’s always said.
“’The most noble example of man's humanity to man is the volunteer.’ No more so than the rescue volunteer.”
It’s something the man lives by as well. Cowan’s been a volunteer with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team for decades. One could tell by the number of stripes on his uniform.
“Each of those stripes represents 5 years of service,” Cowan said. “It's a lifestyle, and it's changed when I joined SAR in 1966.”
The Search and Rescue Team is made up of all volunteers, all donning bright orange shirts.
“What our base role is, we search for missing people, evidence recoveries,” Sgt. Anthony Abutin with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said.
Abutin oversees the team of 170 volunteers.
They’ve been deployed from their ordinary lives at a moment’s notice to help locate a missing hiker, like on Black Mountain in 2024, and to help in a homicide investigation in Valley Center in July.
“We brought over 100 Search and Rescue volunteers that day. So, it was really a big investigation. And a lot of our units are specialized units, we actually bought our canine units, which are human remain detection dogs, and they were a key factor for that search,” Abutin said.
Abutin wasn’t able to tell me if the dogs found any remains in that search.
However, he was able to speak on what he’s found in those who join this team of vibrant shirt-wearing volunteers.
“Dedication to our community. Dedication to our sheriff's office to help our community. We're assisting people probably in the worst time of their lives,” Abutin said.
If you need reassurance, ask the man with 10 stripes on his uniform why he keeps coming back.
“It's very rewarding. finest group of people I've ever met in my life,” Cowan said. “It's very comforting to me to know that we continue to have people out there that their ethic is to help other people.”
If you or anyone is looking to join as a volunteer for the Search and Rescue Team, you can find more information at the Sheriff’s Office website.
