Who you gonna call? Try Kamloops Search and Rescue

By Ryan Parker

When members of the Kamloops Search and Rescue (KSAR) team arrive on the scene to do a search, or simply run a training exercise, they make for an impressive sight.

Two large trucks topped with flood lights - one vehicle, which acts as the mobile command centre has a radio room inside capable of not just co-ordinating a search but also of printing maps and tracking GPS co-ordinates; the other is dedicated to hauling all of KSAR’s equipment - flashlights, stretchers, rope, snowmobiles and Rhinos (if needed), plus all of the personnel.  

Currently, KSAR consists of about 30 team members, all of whom are volunteers, and all of whom incur the financial costs of buying their own individual equipment such as hand-held GPS units and compasses.

Team members are always on call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ready for the word that someone’s loved one is missing.

At the beginning of a search, a search manager gathers as much information about the lost person as possible to be able to co-ordinate Search and Rescue members based on the likely behavior of the lost person.

Search and Rescue organizations throughout B.C. were created in the 1950s and 1960s because no existing group at the time had the skills or person power to perform an exhaustive search. Over time, the resulting B.C. Search and Rescue units have become proficient enough to pull off all kinds of complex search operations and rescues of people injured in remote areas.

People like Jimmy Moore.

Moore is an avid snowmobiler. He is a member of both the Hunter’s Range Snowmobile Association as well as the Sicamous Snowmobile Club. While alpine snowmobiling across Hunter’s Range in July with his friend, John Post, Moore had to be airlifted out by Search and Rescue after crashing his Ski-Doo.

The pair was familiar with their route and had even ridden it the previous day, but warm conditions caused snow to pack in between the treads on both the snowmobiles tracks. When Moore and Post went down a steep hill they lost control. Post hit a tree but suffered no injuries. Moore was launched from his Ski-doo, bounced off of an exposed rock, and landed legs first on a fallen tree. He suffered four broken ribs and a punctured lung.

“John came back to see how I was doing and I told him he would have to get his little saw out and saw the tree off so I could get my legs out,” Moore said. “[Post] had to go for help of course, so he left his rain coat for me to sit on, on top of the snow, and threw his heavy jacket over top of my legs – all I could do was wait.”

Post made it down Hunter’s Range, back to where he and Moore had unloaded their sleds from their trucks, but couldn’t get any reception on his cell phone. Fortunately, a resident of the area crossed paths with Post and had with her a cell phone that was able to connect.

“I was laying up there in the bush, waiting for them and my feet were wet and cold," Moore said. "I knew I couldn’t last a night by myself without a fire.

“At first there was a reflection of the snow on the mountain across the valley, Blanket Mountain - it has a year-round glacier on it and I tried to keep my mind on that real nice view. Time slowly passed, the sun started to go down, the clouds got lower, and I began to wonder if the chopper would make it before dark. But it did.”

Finding a lost or injured person is why KSAR volunteers put in the time that they do. Kristine Billings has had the chance to make the radio call after finding someone trapped in an avalanche.

“It’s the greatest feeling, there’s nothing more rewarding,” said Billings.

KSAR is a non-profit organization. This means that essential equipment has to come from a limited budget. To continue being funded, KSAR also searches out grant money from the regional district and province.

“A percentage of everything raised through lotteries, and that kind of stuff, goes into a provincial gaming fund,” said Laurie Harder, search manager and president of KSAR. “You put your name in, fill out an application, make your case to them, and they’ll give you X amount of dollars.”

KSAR were able to afford new command vehicles by applying to gaming funds. Before obtaining them, search and rescue operations were planned on the hoods of pickup trucks. This didn’t help the credibility of the KSAR, especially in the eyes of the RCMP. According to retired paramedic and current K-9 Handler Mike Ritcey, the RCMP have been resentful of the Search and Rescue team and openly hostile of their being at searches in years past.

“It’s hard to get respect when you have crappy equipment,” said Ritcey.

“Years ago, people used to do bake sales, sell hot dogs – that sort of stuff,” Harder said. “You make some money, but not near enough for what you need. I mean this command vehicle cost close to $160,000. Plus, we have to buy the equipment to go in the trucks. The rope alone - we replaced rope last year - cost $20,000.”

Should a piece of equipment owned by KSAR - for example a radio (which can cost up to $1,000) - get lost or broken while on a search, the group can claim the cost to replace it through the province. But if that same radio or any other piece of equipment is lost or broken on a training exercise, KSAR has to use budget funds to replace it.

In the next couple of years, KSAR will have a large new expenditure to contend with - a new building to call home. Although the members are optimistic about finding one, the decision to seek a new home was not their own. At the moment, KSAR’s vehicles and equipment are being stored at the old City Works building on Mission Flats, which, to the city of Kamloops, is surplus space and is slated to be sold and development.

At the moment KSAR’s location does not cost the group anything. The current location also provides them with ample space, good lighting and it’s heated. The only downside to the current facility is that there is no place for the group’s members to meet. KSAR’s ideal accommodations would be similar to that of the Vernon Search and Rescue, who have a dedicated building where they have a meeting hall and a yard for all of their equipment.

Is all the expense and effort worth it?

Just ask Jimmy Moore.