In the bush there are no headlines, no neat endings and no room for ego. When someone goes missing the work is slow, physical and often uncertain, carried out by people who don’t ask to be seen and businesses like Scope Equipment Hire that don’t wait to be asked.
“It all started with a conversation at a chance meeting at a social event with Queensland Remote Area Tracking Incorporated (QRAT),” explained Jaime Price, Director of Scope Equipment Hire.
“They’ve got a unique set of skills used to locate people who may be lost, injured or disorientated. It’s something we can’t do, so we asked how we could help.”
That help took shape in the rebuild of a critical piece of equipment, giving it a second life to support QRAT on the ground.
“It was an old ex-police buggy that had seen better days. It wasn’t entirely fit for purpose and had a few mechanical issues, so we stripped it right back. We removed the original tub and storage compartments and fabricated a new aluminium tray. There were engine repairs, electrical repairs and a few modifications like fitting a roof rack. We also fitted new tyres, supplied recovery equipment and with the support from Mackay Signage Group we wrapped panels in camouflage.
“It’s had a full second life put into it. Something that was sitting there not doing much is now going to be used in situations where it can actually make a difference.”
Jamie said the whole team at Scope came together.
“Everyone here had a hand in it. Fabrication, auto electrical, mechanical repairs. To be able to use those same skills we use every day to give something back to the community was something the whole team was proud to be part of.
“It’s great to be able to help organisations that are true heroes. The QRAT volunteers give up their own personal time to assist families in highly sensitive situations. If we can assist to make their time in remote locations more comfortable and minimise the sometimes lengthy search operations, then it’s an extremely worthy cause.”
QRAT is a volunteer search and rescue organisation made up largely of veterans and experienced operators, working to locate missing people and support disaster response in remote and regional areas. Formed in 2017 by a group of experienced SES operators looking to improve how search and rescue is carried out, the organisation brings together Defence and emergency service veterans to apply their skills where they’re needed most.
“QRAT was formed to fill a gap in search and rescue,” said Nathan Galaar, a QRAT volunteer and one of the organisation’s founding members.
“The role we play is being able to look for the sign that is left by the missing person, or the lack of sign left by the missing person, so that we can either follow their direction of travel and ultimately locate them or eliminate areas where they may have been so the search effort can be focused more purposefully.
“We’re normally called to people who are legitimately missing in remote areas, hikers and that sort of thing, but that’s only about a third of what we do. Another third are people who are despondent or not in a well state of mind, and another third are people with mental health issues, whether that’s dementia, Alzheimer’s or other circumstances where they’ve got themselves into a situation and can’t find their way back out again.
“Sometimes it’s not about saving someone. Sometimes the person is already gone and didn’t want to be saved, but there’s a family at home who needs to know. If you don’t return a loved one, even in the worst outcome, they live in that space between hope and grief for the rest of their life because they never know what happened.
“So finding a person no matter the outcome is really important.”
Nathan said support from businesses is critical to what QRAT does, particularly as a volunteer organisation that doesn’t actively seek funding.
“We’re not marketers. We’re not out there asking for money and there’s no paid positions in our organisation so it’s actually quite difficult for us to go out and ask for support. We’re just people who do a job in the bush.
“When someone like Scope Equipment Hire comes to us, takes the time to understand what we do, and then offers help in a way that actually fits what we need, that really stands out.
“We call people like that our angels on our shoulders. When you’re out there, carrying 30 or 40 kilos on your back, you’re into day three, you’re tired, you’re hurting and you’re still trying to locate the person you think about the people who helped you get there.
“We might only have seven or eight people on the ground but there are a hundred people behind us. We can’t do what we do without them.”
