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  • Members of the Salem South Baptist Association Search and Rescue Team receive directions from team leader Roy Bitner during a training exercise. The team has been in existence for a year and is available to aid law enforcement agencies with search-and-rescue operations. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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July 3, 2008

SSBA disaster relief operations expands to search and rescue

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Four years ago, when Don Bigham moved back to Mt. Vernon, he had a cause very important to him. While living in Texas, he was involved with disaster relief with the local church association.

“It became very important to me,” he said.

And when he came back to the King City, he approached Salem South Baptist Association director Henry Hall about organizing a disaster relief team here.

“They didn’t have disaster relief and wanted it,” Bigham recalled. “So I sat down with Henry Hall and we talked about it.”

What emerged was a chain saw trailer team, where team members volunteered to clean up after damaging storms and help remove debris and damaging limbs from residents’ homes.

But there was more work to do for the citizens.

“The team was growing,” Bigham explained. “We had 60 people involved with the Illinois Baptist State Association.” The association, he continued, is a free group of churches that wanted to do things for the whole state of Illinois. “The Illinois State Association connects with the National Association — North American Mission Board — we now have 1,500 [chain saw] trailers available across the United States.”

Two years ago, when damaging straight-line winds hit the King City, the Salem South chain saw team, as well as other teams from “all over,” came to help residents clear debris.

“For a small town to form such a team [and its network] — that’s a good thing,” Bigham said.

Finally, a year ago, the association was able to form a search-and-rescue team.

“Why did we start it? Because we’re involved on a global, national and local neighborhood. There was no search and rescue within the Southern Baptist Association. We were going to disasters, storms, hurricanes — we saw a need for our people to become qualified and began to ask chain saw members if they had experience [in emergency situations], and a number of them had EMS or paramedic training, and we began work to create a search and rescue here in Mt. Vernon.”

Of the 38 churches in the Salem South Baptist Association, 20 members are volunteers on the Salem South Baptist Association Search and Rescue Team. “Our objective is to get trained, get proper CPR and first aid and [become] established as a unit. We are available to the public and agencies to search,” Bigham remarked.

He said the Mt. Vernon Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office are aware and have used their assistance. Most recently, team members received certificates of commendation for their assistance in the March 19 search for two drowning victims, Steven Healy and Shannon Allen.

“We are serious about the process of training and helping people in trouble. That’s a ministry to us,” said Bigham.

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