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Review Vol.17
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Number 3
Thursday, January 15, 2015
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Serving the communities of Keremeos, Cawston, Okanagan Falls and Kaleden
Search and rescue team hits the water
Tara Bowie
Tara Bowie
Bob Thurston from Keremeos Search and Rescue works to get himself out of the frigid waters Bob Thurston from Keremeos Search and Rescue jumps in to save Justin White, from the during flat ice training at Yellow Lake. Members of search and rescue groups from the South Penticton rescue group, during flat ice training at Yellow Lake Sunday. Okanagan completed the specialized training last weekend.
Rescue club seeks volunteers as members leave Tara Bowie Review Staff
A local organization dedicated to helping others needs a rescue of its own. Over about the last two months three people have quit the Keremeos Search and Rescue group, leaving only 10 members remaining in the essential group. Brian Russell, the president of KSAR said the three people left for a variety of reasons. “With our group sort of in flux we got to get it going,” Russell said following flat ice training at Yellow Lake last weekend. The 10 volunteers that now make up the group come with a variety of experience. Russell said some of the members who quit recently had specialized skills leaving a gap in what the group can offer.
Three Keremeos group members including Russell participated in flat ice training on the weekend with search and rescue members from Penticton, Oliver and Osoyoos. All specialized training is done with groups spanning the South Okanagan. “We’re trying to train when it’s possible and get these different courses underneath us,” he said. Members from South Okanagan will train in swift current water rescue next weekend. Chris Armstrong, from the BC Search and Rescue Association said there’s a trend right now with some clubs across the province not being able to retain members. “Things have changed. It used to be that you would have longterm volunteers. It was a longterm thing they’d be into it for 10
plus years. But that’s changed a lot. Instead, in today’s society we’re getting a lot of 20 somethings. They want to pad their resumes and get some experience between high school and college and then they move on,” he said. Clubs such as Keremeos might have between 10 and 12 calls a year, including mutual aid callouts where members help the next community during a search or rescue. A lot of their commitment is made in the area of constant training, which they are not paid for. “For younger people that might not be enough for them. They might be looking for a group that has more calls or where they can use more specialized skill sets more often,” he said. Armstrong’s home group Nelson is the seventh busiest in the province.
“We’ve got 100 people on our waiting list. It’s hard to get in,” he said. Russell said he personally joined the group as a way to give back to the community. “It’s just my way to give back,” he said. For those interested, in addition to giving back to the community being part of the search and rescue group offers a variety of free training options. Most smaller groups offer flat ice and swift current training but there are also options including vertical and paddleboat rescue and more. For more information or to volunteer keremeossar@gmail.com or visit the group on Facebook under Keremeos Search and Rescue.