Safety is always our primary concern, because volcanoes can be dangerous places.
But we manage personal risk in the same way as other professionals in hazardous occupations, such as police officers or astronauts. We try hard to understand the risk inherent in any situation,then train and equip ourselves with the tools and support necessary to provide a comfortable margin of safety. Such training involves learning the past and current activity of the volcano, first aid, helicopter safety procedures, and wilderness survival techniques. Some of us, however, have experienced situations that were more than exciting. When a little steam explosion occurred from the dome at Mount St. Helens in 1982, three of us were surveying the dome from less than 100 meters away.