No matter where you go in the world of search and rescue, the name John Taylor is known. The man who made his first of hundreds of rescues in Snohomish County’s backyard traveled the world to hone his skills and gather equipment for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue.
Taylor’s death on Friday is not only a loss for the community but another opportunity to reflect on a service that has become a staple of law enforcement in this county.
Perhaps nobody had a better balance of intimate familiarity with the region and immense respect for the power of nature than Taylor. He was first asked to help out in 1961 specifically because of his knowledge of the terrain. The 17-year-old jack-of-all-trades was working at the Monte Cristo lodge when a woman climbing the steep hillside in the area was struck by a rock and injured. The sheriff’s office called on young Taylor to assist.
From that moment, his career choice was settled.
He joined the sheriff’s office and was instrumental in building the search and rescue team into the live-saving organization it is today. Taylor spent years going on searches for people who simply didn’t understand nature’s strengths and their own weaknesses or those who thought the thrill of conquering nature was worth any risk.
"It’s the sereneness and the beauty of the area, of course," Taylor told a Herald reporter in 1996. "Desire outweighs good sense."
What many of those people failed to realize was they weren’t merely putting themselves at risk. Every search-and-rescue mission is life-threatening to the rescuers. Searching a treacherous river for a body could mean a struggle for Taylor to keep his divers from being swept downstream themselves. And taking up a helicopter poses risks of its own. But, oh, how many times Taylor and that helicopter made the difference — the difference between finding someone alive or dead or not at all.
While Taylor can never be replaced, it is to his credit that the sheriff’s search and rescue team is not, and never was, a one-man show. Taylor never wanted anyone to think it was. He deflected attention. And he sought the ideas and input of fellow rescuers — a smart rescuer and a smart manager.
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