Kelowna rescue

[snopro]

It depends on the information available. Commonly it's a needle in a haystack search which means a panicked wife in Regina hasn't heard from hubby and it's after dark so calls the RCMP. She may or may not know where they were riding for the day but often don't so all the RCMP know is that they are in X-sledtown somewhere. RCMP then usually goes and looks in the staging area for buddies pickup to see which zone he may be in. The RCMP then tasks out SAR for a search in that zone. While searching for the truck or after RCMP will initiate cellphone pings to see if they can get any indication of where they may be in the zone. A triangulated ping in a good zone can take SAR right to the guy but often only a ping from one or two towers so only a rough idea or no ping at all. If there is a ping SAR proceeds to that last known point and looks for evidence perhaps sled tracks leading into a known no-go zone. SAR will get to height of land look for any lights from headlights or a fire and if a radio channel is known will try calling from there on that channel. SAR will try to attract attention to their positions with light, flare guns, or noise. If none of that works SAR will often just start working the edge of the zone especially around known problem areas looking for tracks leading into them and not back out.

The more information the RCMP and SAR have the better chance of getting to a subject. There have definitely been times when the call from the loved one is like oh yeah they're in: insert zone which doesn't exist. Or they told a loved one they were riding Blue Lake but they get found in Hunters Range.

If you're in a bad scene and actually want help it's best to have a two way satellite communication device. Everyone should also leave a trip plan with loved ones. Tell them every morning which area you will be in, who you will be with, which radio channel you're on.

Thanks. Great information to know. I would have never turned my phone on if I saw there was no service. We always put our radio channel with our names on the sign in book at the cabin. As we get older common sense kicks in and we try not to explore where one track went as it usually ends up being a bad choice. Thanks for all you guys do!

 

[tex78]

Hey Jeff. Question for you? So was talking with some guys today about SAR and was wondering what kind of plan do you guys have when you start a search for someone? I mean where do you start looking for someone? Always wondered that

Brando summed it up right to the top


Soooooooo many searches with no idea where to start , just like Christmas eve 4 years ago , 3 young guys from Armstrong

They were supposed to go to blue , ended up between owls and hunters lol

Finally found out what radio channel they use with buddies the next morning, ended up contacting them and found em

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