AVERY COUNTY, N.C. — The Linville-Central Rescue Squad does a lot of training — including water, rope and rescue.
Elizabeth Trott says when Hurricane Helene hit, that training was put to the test.
"I'm grateful that we trained and trained for years because it was really, really all out and we did a lot of things I had never done," she said.
The group recently was recognized for its search-and-rescue skills with a Defender Service Award from Land Rover, which came with a $25,000 grant and a new Defender truck.
"To be able to take our equipment in this awesome vehicle is going to be a game-changer, and it lets our other vehicle stay here and respond to the county," Trott said.
She says the all-volunteer team has a strong mix of backgrounds.
"There's pharmacists, there's veterinarians, there's old river guides, there's people trained in rescue," Trott said.
All of those backgrounds come together for one mission — to help people.
"We do swift water rescue, we do wilderness rescue, we do technical rescues, meaning if there are ropes involved. We have a K-9 team that does a lot of searching for missing folks of all kinds," she said.
She says one thing they needed is a new vehicle for responses.
"A carry-out could be 8-10 hours or longer and we don't want one of our crash trucks to respond to a car accident. We don't want those tied up to 8-10 hours down a forest service road," Trott said.
Squad members got to test the Defender during Helene, when Land Rover loaned them one. Now, they'll finally have one of their own.