Busy holiday weekend for PENSAR
The holiday weekend made for a really long weekend for members of Penticton and District Search and Rescue.
Between Friday morning and Monday morning, the team was called out five times by RCMP and BC Ambulance.
The calls started Friday at 8 a.m. with a report of a paraglider injured in the hills above Hedley.
“PENSAR crews located the subject, provided basic first aid, packaged the subject and then airlifted the subject off the slope to an awaiting (BC Ambulance) aircraft. The subject was then flown to Kelowna General Hospital for treatment,” PENSAR spokesman Randy Brown said in a press release.
A trio of calls followed Saturday, beginning at 11:30 a.m. with a report of an injured ATV rider in the Tulameen area. That was followed in the afternoon by a request from colleagues in the Central Okanagan to help rescue an injured ATV rider in the Bear Creek area.
“Between these two calls, Penticton RCMP requested PENSAR’s assistance to investigate the report of a vehicle off Highway 97 down the bank just south of Penticton,” said Brown.
“The helicopter crew returning from Tulameen event were in the vicinity and were able locate the vehicle, however, no occupants were inside.”
Thankfully, the team got a break Sunday, but was back at it Monday at 10 a.m. after a signal from a distress beacon was detected in the Matriarch Mountain area of Cathedral Provincial Park.
“PENSAR crews located two hikers in the area who were suffering from hypothermia and lack of supplies,” said Brown.
So far this year, PENSAR has been called out 55 times, which is above average, although similar teams across B.C. are reporting a surge in activity.
Brown suggested previously it could be due to more people going into the backcountry as a result of COVID-19.