Fernie Search and Rescue (FSAR) has been busy with further callouts including false alerts, injured mountain bikers and a major recovery operation near Kimberley with numerous other SAR teams.

As the busy summer rescue season (hopefully) slows down, and hunting season begins, our thoughts turn to the fall, which typically include some of our most labour-intensive responses – calls for “overdue hunters.”

Many of our members enjoy hunting season and our request to fellow hunters is to make sure someone knows where you are going – even a Post-it on a fridge with an area will make a huge difference. Ideally take an InReach or SPOT device so that you can be found quickly in the event of an emergency, and it will also allow you to communicate changes in plans.

Without those basic steps the “overdue hunter” call can consume hundreds of hours of rescuer time, involving aircraft, road searches, social media campaigns, interviews with friends, family, work colleagues and working with our friends at the RCMP on all the investigative tools they have while we try and establish where the missing person is. Sometimes we don’t even know which province they are in.

Please help us avoid these kinds of responses; not only will it save us a lot of unnecessary time and work; it also means an emergency response can be quick and efficient should you need one.

Happy and safe hunting season!

The team works in collaboration with 911 agencies, neighbouring SAR teams and Ascent and Bighorn Helicopters.

Fernie Search and Rescue photo

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