Volunteers would be trained
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The Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is starting a new volunteer program directed at making their visitors’ experience in the park safer and more enjoyable by attempting to prevent accidents and safety incidents before they occur.
The park service is calling their new program “preventative search and rescue.”
The effort is an extension of the park’s voluntourism program, which they began two years ago. During the early stages of the new program, the park will concentrate their resources at Horseshoe Bend, which, due to the large amount of visitation, sees a higher than usual rate of accidents and heat-related health issues. During the hottest weeks of the year, park service rangers may respond to a dozen calls per week to assist people who have become dehydrated and/or overheated during their walk to the overlook.
The idea is to create a pool of volunteers who can man a shaded booth along the route to the overlook where they’ll hand out water, provide information and assist with general safety issues, said Amanda Hammond, assistant chief of interpretation for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.