Tis the season for backcountry adventures and Search and Rescue Teams throughout the Cariboo want you to be safe while doing it.
Bob Zimmerman, President of Quesnel Search and Rescue said it’s very important before you go to let someone know where you’re going and when you’re expected back.
Zimmerman said it’s also important to also include information like where you’re going to park and your vehicle description and explained why.
“Sometimes that’s the hardest part is locating the vehicle to start with because someone may say we’ll we’re heading out to Ghost Lake or heading out to some other lake. There’s hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of trails and forest service roads in those areas so you need to be quite definite as to where you plan on parking”.
Zimmerman added where you do park to leave a note inside your vehicle in the windshield saying who you are and if your vehicle is still parked at a certain time to please call the RCMP.
Another important piece of equipment to have with you is a GPS.
Zimmerman explained the difference between having a lower-end one and a higher quality one.
“If you have what they call In-Reach or Spot, it’s satellite communication. The lowest-priced ones you can push a button that says SOS, in other words, send emergency help, but the problem with the lowest message one like that is we have no idea what the call is about whereas the better quality notifiers have texting capability where you can actually text a message through the satellites to a friend saying where you are, what the problem is, and what you need for help”.
2020 was a busy year for Central Cariboo Search and Rescue.
They had 186 calls for the auto extraction team, 25 in one week alone in November due to an early snowfall, and Land Search teams had 39 calls.
South Cariboo Search and Rescue was tasked out to 15 incidents, and Quesnel Search and Rescue had 13 calls.