It’s been a slow winter season so far and that’s just how Mike Hudson likes it.
Hudson, the president of South Columbia Search and Rescue (SCSAR), said no news is good news when it comes to rescuing people in the West Kootenay region.
Aside from last week’s avalanche, which injured a skier on Mt. Kirkup, which was handled by Rossland SAR and the Red ski patrol, the SCSAR has only had to respond to four calls so far this winter.
“The four calls were winter-based calls, Castlegar and Nelson mostly,” he explained.
With the close of the 2018 calendar year, Hudson provided numbers of the past year.
“South Columbia completed 29 responses in 2018 which was a slight decrease from the 32 calls we did the previous year,” he said.
“With the exception of this past year, we have seen a steady increase in response volumes over the last 10 years. When I joined nine years ago we were doing nine or 10 calls a year.”
He said there’s hasn’t been any pattern behind the numbers.
“No one year is like the other, some years swiftwater rescues are the most prominent, other years it’s hunters and berry/mushroom pickers and so on.
“I think that the unusual weather and the horrible smoke and fire season this past year is why our call volume has changed a bit.
“We find that when the weather is up and down the amount of back country users changes. But there has also been a lot of education out there over the last couple of years for proper pre-trip planning and emergency beacons. This has resulted in some decreases in calls at some groups in the province.”
But just because it’s been quiet on the rescue front doesn’t mean things aren’t hopping around the station.
“We have been busy training and getting our yearly plan off the ground for the 2019 year.”
He said they’ve been getting projects completed with regard to the command trailer and working on some new technology enhancements for the group.
“We have had an influx of interested members in the last couple of months which has been great. We have brought on 10 new members. We’re pretty excited to get them through our training plan and certified over the next few months.”
He said SCSAR has been actively recruiting for the past couple of months and it’s paying off. He added the importance of Search and Rescue teams is becoming more prevalent every year.
“It’s a combination of search and rescue as a whole being more prevalent in the news today, social media and events like parades and fireworks,” he explained.
“We tend to see an increase in interested members in the late November and December or early January or February. Lots of people want to try new things in the new year or find ways to give back to their community.”
If you are interested in helping others and want to volunteer please go to the website at www.scsar.ca or email us at scsar@scsar.ca.