Though only three years removed from life in Chicago, Kim Girard has made herself a visible fixture in Sedona’s volunteer community.

As a volunteer park ranger with Sedona’s Parks and Recreation Department, Girard acts as a roving ambassador of the city and its natural attractions. For two-hour shifts, she and a partner walk the sidewalks of Uptown, greeting visitors and responding — if necessary — to any emergency.

Trained in first aid and the use of automated external defibrillators, Girard is positioned well to help.

Her qualifications extend beyond mere training, however. An avowed “nature nerd,” she also volunteers with Grand Canyon National Park’s Preventive Search and Rescue program, which each summer places volunteers along the path of hikers in order to anticipate emergencies — the most common being simple overheating and dehydration.

Just as in Uptown, each volunteer is trained as a first responder to crisis. For four days at a time, Girard camps out with her peers, stationing herself during the day for those in need.

“The main goal is to get people out on their own,” Girard said, explaining that the volunteer effort leaves valuable resources, such as park rangers, open for bigger problems. To this effort, volunteers travel with water, snacks, first aid supplies and radios — “anything that can help us get people out on their own.”

To read the full story, see the Friday, March 20, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.