Kelowna

Imagine a job which could call you out anytime, day or night.  One that puts you into danger, requires you to travel in harsh conditions and to go where others can't.

And then imagine doing it all for free.

Photo: Contributed - Linda Quon

COSAR teams train day and night to be ready for every type of rescue imaginable.

If this sounds like fun to you, then you might want to be a member of Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR).

"It's strictly volunteer," says COSAR Search Manager Dave Crawford. Members are compensated for some expenses when on a rescue but are giving a considerable amount of their time solely to help others.

The SAR team is overseen by the Provincial Emergency Preparedness program, which helps organize their training efforts.

Crawford is a computer systems analyst for Interior Health and has been with COSAR for 10 years, joining after he moved to BC from Ontario and putting to use his background as a wilderness guide.

"As soon as I moved to BC, I knew the search and rescue teams were class operations," says Crawford.

Operations which require a wide range of skill sets that go far behind what you might imagine.

"We're not particularly specific about the backgrounds we request for team members. Because of the wide variety of responses we have, we're never quite sure what's going to be valuable from one day to the next."

Crawford says they use people who have accounting, communications and mechanical backgrounds as well as a range of outdoor experience.

"We do require Level One first aid, but a lot of our members have more advanced skills than that."

This allows the team to take a specific approach to the rescue operation.

"If there's a search task, then we have our searchers out. If there's a first-aid requirement, then we get our first-aiders in. So we have people with a very wide range of skills."

The team trains at least once a week and sometimes more in order to stay on top of the best rescue techniques.

"We have training to maintain our basic skills like navigation, first-aid, communications, whatever needs to be done," says Crawford.

"We also have a number of specific teams that people belong to, such as the first-aid team, the high angle rescue team and the boat team. They will get together and practice specific skills on their own."

The team currently has 34 active members who can be called at anytime.

"Our phones could ring 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," says Crawford.

And the team is willing to take on any task. Along with administering first-aid, COSAR has been asked to perform back country rescues of lost skiers and snowmobilers, to search for people who have gone missing and water rescues as well.

Generally, COSAR responds when extra man power is needed or to go where emergency rescue crews don't have the training for.

"The rescue above Brenda Mines (on December 30), we we're called out by BC Ambulance because the ambulance got up there and realized their attendants were not trained to go off in the bush to manage a wilderness rescue and evacuation," says Crawford.

Terry Anderson and a group of friends were out snowmobiling near Brenda Mines when his son's girlfriend broke her leg when she crashed into a tree, beginning an eight hour ordeal.

"I don't think these people get the credit they deserve," says Anderson. The accident happened around 2:30 in the afternoon just over 2 kilometres from the Brenda Mine gate.

Anderson had nothing but praise for the team, which had to traverse some very icy terrain to reach the rescue site. His back-country experience allowed him to to stabilize the victim until help could arrive. Once there, COSAR went above and beyond to complete the rescue and ensure the safety of everyone involved.

Anderson says they took the time to dig out the trapped snowmobile, and ensure everyone got out of the area.

"These guys even helped me load the machine onto my son's truck and even gave us the tie downs we needed. They didn't have to do any of that."

The rescue call came in the midst of a very busy period for COSAR. After a quiet spell to start the season, the team faced a flurry of rescue operations as winter settled in over the Okanagan's back country.

Crawford says they will will average around 35 calls a year and they tend to come in bunches.

"We had a drought for a couple of months without a single call, then all of a sudden just one after another, after another."

COSAR is a registered charitable organization and as such, relies on community support to function at a high level. They do receive funding from the Regional District on a yearly basis, but it's not enough to meet all of the organization's expenses.

The slack is made up from gaming grants, help from the Central Okanagan Foundation and individual donations.

Central Okanagan Search and Rescue

Photo: Contributed - COSAR

Photo: Contributed - Linda Quon

Photo: Contributed - Linda Quon

Photo: Contributed - Linda Quon

Photo: Contributed - Linda Quon

Photo: Contributed - COSAR

Photo: Contributed - COSAR

Photo: Contributed - COSAR

Photo: Contributed - COSAR

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