In the McBride and Valemount sledding areas Robson Valley SAR takes the Covid-19 Pandemic seriously. If you choose to ride here and you get injured there are some realities that you will face.
1. The emergency responders will provide a response within the provincial health officers guidelines...
The SOS feature on those devices coupled with the two-way text capability gives us your exact location and the incident details that you include as a text message. If you carry a SPOT or inReach device please keep it in a hard case to prevent accidental SOS activations.
Stay safe,
Dale Mason...
The two men we (Robson Valley SAR) rescued yesterday ventured into terrain that they couldn’t ride back out of. To their credit they had radio contact with the rest of their group. Others in their group CALLED 9-1-1. That is the most important call. Don’t call your mom or a friend or the...
Good question, I managed this one and countless other like it. In BC search and rescue is FREE. That can change if the 911 call is for an Air Ambulance and BC Ambulance Service sends in their helicopter from Kamloops, then the patient gets a bill from BCAS for their helicopter. Search and rescue...
Been managing SAR incidents in BC for a many many years and have never sent a bill to anyone!
Here's how it works, somebody needs help in an emergency, the police are called, the police call SAR, SAR provides assistance to resolve the emergency and nobody gets a bill. Period.
OR
Somebody...
Well stated highlandrider, as a SAR Manager in McBride & Valemount I have been providing the same message for a couple of decades. The only clairification is, when SAR responds to a medical emergency via helicopter EMBC/PEP pays for the helicopter. If BC Ambulance Service dispatches the...
Couldn't agree with you more Treedragon, "It's always good to be prepared". I too would like to know the whole story. I sent the helicopter in there on Friday morning, in bad flying conditions, to find these guys. When they were located the instructions to them were to walk to their friends...
Have a look in the Public Site on the CAA website under Trip Planning, New Trip Planner (beta) you'll find terrain assessment and avalanche danger info for the managed areas around McBride and other areas.
Thanks to all that attended the Avalanche Awareness Days event in McBride. We are already working on plans for next year to make the event better and provide more information on mountain safety.
Dale Mason
SAR Manager
Robson Valley SAR
We actually watched the signal move on the map as the patient was being moved to an area that we could fly into.
Keep in mind that there is no way for rescue to know what the emergency is. All we know is that there is an emergency at the coordinates provided. As a rule I send in the entire...
I'll see if I can find that file. I suspect it is in the computer that melted down a couple of weks ago. Considering I don't snowmobile I sure spend a lot of time on this website! I don't get it. I need a hobby.
I'm meeting with emergency management reps from BC, Alberta and the Yukon this weekend to work out a lot of the boundary issues. But, i will tell you that when a call comes in I don't have time to check around the country to see who else might be responding to an incident they are not...
Great post robhayward,
There is lots of interest here for responses into Kakwa simply because it falls into BC jurisdiction and there are regulations in BC that must be followed. You mentioned a few other riding areas that I assume are in Alberta. The pre-planning for those areas is something...
As stated there is no shortage of helicopters that we can access to fly into Kakwa. The key is to let the proper authorities know about the incident ASAP. We are dealing with lives and safety so there is no room for errors or heroics. Something that the sleding community might give some thought...
The McBride RCMP number is 250 569 2255, BC Ambulance Service 800 461 9911 they will ask "what city" tell them "McBride" not Kakwa Park things will work faster. The SAR teams can only be activated by these agencies.
The first isue that comes up with hiring a helicopter company from Alberta is...
Good to hear. It sounded like both were used as we had information on the injuries as well as the location. This was the second time we had the Air Force fly to kakwa, the other was two weeks ago. On that incident the companions drove the injured sledder out to the staging area about the time...
If anyone is interested that rescue cost over $26,000.00 Don't expect the military to fly up here very often. Over the next month there are a few meetings scheduled to address search and/or rescue incidents along the BC border and in Kakwa Park. Keep in mind that help is hours away when...