VOLUNTEERS HONORED FOR UNPAID SERVICE COUNTY SINGLES OUT 54 OF 80,000 HELPERS.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

For John McKently and Dr. Laurie Publicover, there's nothing like the thrill of finding a lost hiker or helping an injured youth get out of the rugged wilderness surrounding Los Angeles.

In fact, they like it so much they do the work for free, for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. McKently is a reserve deputy from Glendale who is commander of four of the department's eight search-and-rescue teams.

Publicover is a volunteer doctor in the department's emergency services detail who frequently spends weekends riding in Air 5, the department's big rescue helicopter that patrols the entire county.

If McKently's enthusiasm for his job, including 1,300 rescues with the Montrose rescue team in 23 years, is remarkable, perhaps even he can't match Publicover's devotion: She still volunteers monthly even though she moved to Las Vegas a year ago.

The two were among 54 people between the ages of 15 and 83 honored Monday by county officials as Volunteers of the Year. County taxpayers saved an estimated $50 million last year with 4.1 million hours of donated time from 80,000 volunteers, officials said.

Those volunteers have done a little of everything, from counseling domestic violence victims and sorting library books to training paralegals, officials said.

Much of the volunteer work can be fairly prosaic: filing paperwork, running errands, cleaning up records. But for McKently and Publicover, volunteering is how they have fun.

``There's a thrill of feeling like you're really accomplishing something,'' said Publicover, a 43-year-old emergency room doctor. ``I have yet to be in a rescue of someone who doesn't thank you or their family doesn't thank you profusely.''

McKently has wanted to do search-and-rescue work since a predecessor spoke before the Boy Scout troop where he became an Eagle Scout. But though he's been a sworn officer in the department for nearly a quarter century, he has never been interested in becoming a full-fledged deputy.

``I have no interest in that whatsoever,'' McKently said. ``Search and rescue is what I do. There's nothing like the thrill of being on a search when you shout out and somebody answers.''

Undersheriff Jerry Harper said the mere fact that McKently is one of two commanders in the 113-officer mountain rescue reserve unit - and also helps oversee 600 more reserve deputies who work in radio cars - is a sign of the respect he is accorded in the department.

``He's both an operations guy and an administrative guy,'' Harper said. ``He has a lot of responsibility for life-and-death matters. Given that we pay them all of a dollar a year, minus taxes, that's a pretty good bargain for the county.''

Publicover, one of 4,000 nonsworn volunteers who work for the department, is one of only a handful of physicians who give their time, Harper said. Because of her skills, she's used not only to respond to rescue operations, but also myriad other duties, such as giving physicals to Explorers and gathering evidence from suspects.

``She does a great job,'' Harper said. ``She rappels down the rope out of the helicopters and gets dirty just like the deputies.''

Publicover said she loves the more immediate kind of medicine she can practice working with the department and the ``ego trip'' of helping save people's lives in often precarious situations.

``Besides,'' Publicover said, ``where else can you jump out of a helicopter on a mountain and hang out with a bunch of buff guys?''