Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue (HSAR) has been busy in the second half of September.
They responded to an accident last Friday at about 2:25 p.m., where a pickup truck with a trailer crossed the road and hit a cyclist on Highway 1 near Hells Gate.
HSAR manager Mario Levesque said that they arrived on scene and everyone was in a stable condition, and they were tasked to secure a landing zone for an Emergency Health Services helicopter. The patient was taken in the ambulance and transported to hospital.
HSAR was also involved in rescuing two fishermen on the Fraser River last Thursday. The fishermen had capsized their boat near Saddle Lake Rock, which is near Yale. Arriving at the scene, HSAR found the two fishermen on the shore across the river.
HSAR launched their boat in Hope and proceeded up the Fraser. When they arrived, both of the fishermen were wearing their life jackets but felt cold. They were glad to be rescued, said the press release, and paramedics and RCMP spoke with them.
“A reminder to all boaters, please wear your life jacket/PFDs – it might save your life,” said the press release.
HSAR members were also involved in sharpening their road rescue using rope on an embankment. The course included an introduction on Friday, Sept. 15 and 10 hours each on the Saturday and Sunday with a mix of morning theory and afternoon field work. On Saturday, they focused on basic rope skills while on Sunday, they continued by adding the Capstan winch and Multi-Purpose Device systems. All students passed the written test on Sunday.
