Neither sleet, nor snow, nor heat of day deters them.
No, they’re not postmen from another era, they are the committed members of the Shuswap Search and Rescue Volunteer organization.
Not only do they respond to calls for help, the volunteers spend many hours training in order to be as well-prepared as possible when they do get called out.
And they now have a sophisticated tool in their arsenal – a command centre designed specifically for the groups needs.
Used by search managers, the command centre on wheels is the heart of any search. The new truck with its custom-made box will make life easier for both managers and searchers.
Search manager Gordon Bose led the charge, overseeing the logistics of getting it built.
All the search managers met together to provide input on this office on wheels, what it should be capable of and how it should be laid out.
Aside from being easier to drive than the old school bus that was the former command centre, the new truck is better able to access remote locations, such as getting up slippery mountain roads.
Then there was the issue of matching search managers’ needs – who wants to work standing up, who wants to work where and did they want paper or digital maps? – were questions that needed to be addressed.
Managers were also asked to indicate what they liked and didn’t like about the old command centre and how they preferred to run a search.
“It was quite a deal, says Bose, who then consulted with the box builder and a longtime search manager from Aggasiz, who had more than 20 years of experience in building command centres.
The result is what Bose calls a “bit of old school and a bit of new,” with paper and computer maps, a projector to enlarge the maps, radios that provide enhanced communication and two wings that open to provide sheltered spaces for briefings, debriefings, coffee and quick meals.
And it can be up and running within a couple of minutes says Bose – by pressing a button to activate the generator and then just flipping some switches.
Shuswap Volunteer Search and Rescue president Luke Gubbels is grateful for the new equipment and continued community support.
Volunteers were busier than ever before in 2016, with 33 call-outs that involved 46 subjects.
“This represents over 9,000 hours in total volunteer time SVSAR members have dedicated to the team and our community over the last year,” says Gubbels, noting the 1982 Bluebird bus was the group’s command centre for 16 years.
It has been donated to the South Columbia Search and Rescue based in Fruitvale.
“The purchase and outfitting of the new mobile incident command centre was, in part, made possible by the BC Gaming Commission, BC Government SAR grant, Columbia Shuswap Regional District and local residents who have donated money to our group over the past few years,” says Gubbels.
As president of the local search and rescue team, Gubbels emphasizes that members, who provide services for free, are always in action, raising funds and practising their skills so they’re well prepared for any kind of emergency.
The seven members of the winter team met at 7 a.m. Sunday to go out to the Owlhead area to hone their avalanche skills and further familiarize themselves with an area.
“It gets us up there in a non-emergency situation and the better we know the area, the more it helps us in an emergency situation,” Gubbels says, noting this year hasn’t been as busy as 2016. “We did a lot of education at the beginning of the year with the local sled clubs, Eagle Valley and Crowsfoot; the information is getting out there.”
But not everyone is getting the message and Gubbels reminds backcountry users to be well-prepared before heading out into the wilderness.
For more information, go to www.Shuswapvsar.org.
