STANFORD — Radio equipment is essential to search and rescue efforts and thanks to the Stanford Lions Club, the Lincoln County Search and Rescue team has new radios to improve communication during rescue response.

Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Don Gilliam and Deputy Director Trish O’Quin attended the Lions Club’s February meeting to thank the group for their $3,000 donation, which helped purchase the new radios.

“Thank you just isn’t good enough, from the bottom of our hearts,” Gilliam said. “Radio equipment … gives us the ability to not only talk to one another, which is important when you have six different teams out in a field miles apart searching for a lost child or adult or whatever, but also we’re able to talk to our command post, we’re able to talk to the county command post, we’re able to talk to air craft, we’re able to talk to military, we’re able to talk to other teams from other counties.”

It’s a capability that the team has never had before, Gilliam said, and even exceeds the capabilities of other first-responder agencies.

“With emergency management, when we’re called, it’s usually something pretty serious. So, that is an excellent tool. Three of these radios have that capability,” he said.

When purchasing the three radios, Gilliam said the company donated an additional three radios, which can communicate with team members and dispatchers.

“We just really want you to know that we appreciate it,” he said to the room full of Lions Club members. “This is equipment that we just couldn’t get. There are grants available to search and rescue but they’re very competitive.”

Gilliam and O’Quin thanked the group again and invited them to check out the new radios on display.

“Its something that we’re going to make use of and probably will more than likely be a part of saving a life,” Gilliam said.

Lions Club member Renee Knies also thanked the pair for their service to the county.

“Honestly, we can’t say thank you enough for all that you guys do,” Knies said.

Gilliam said search and rescue members do not get paid and they don’t charge for services.

“We generally have eight-to-10 call outs a year and last year we had 19,” he said. “The last one we had, our search coordinator for the county Billy Hester saved a two-year-old child’s life. If he hadn’t found him, he would’ve frozen to death.”

O’Quin said search and rescue volunteers were thrilled to learn of the new radios.