Gone are the days Squamish Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteers had to depend on Whistler or North Vancouver's Helicopter External Transportation System (HETS) to rescue stranded climbers or hikers from cliffs or rivers in the Sea to Sky corridor. Thanks to a recent donation from the provincial government, SAR recently added a HETS kit, worth about $20,000, to their equipment list. Squamish SAR training officer John Howe is glad to finally have one for his team.
"It's something we use on a regular basis. Last week we used it twice, once for a severely injured climber with head injuries on Smoke Bluffs," he said. "It would have taken an hour on the ground, but with this system it took 10 minutes."
The HETS system is also known as long lining, a rescue technique that employs a helicopter to sling SAR members into difficult to access areas to retrieve those stuck in tricky terrain.
The technology has been around for almost 20 years, but this is the first time Squamish SAR will have access to its own system. Previously when a HETS kit was needed, Squamish SAR volunteers had to borrow it from either Whistler or North Vancouver. This dependency meant rescue times were lengthened.
"Now we'll have our own kit and be able to do it essentially on our own, thereby reducing the lag time between getting the call and executing the rescue," continued Howe.
Howe recently wrapped up a training day on the river for new and seasoned SAR volunteers.
"It's very challenging for pilots to do this exercise over moving water, because when they're looking down they can't keep a focal point to keep still, but the weekend training was a great success."
As SAR volunteers have to be certified to work with the HETS system, the provincial government paid for the training out of its flood preparedness program fund.
