Shoppers headed into Safeway for their milk last Sunday morning might not have noticed a group of tired men and women quietly hugging and congratulating each other in a back section of the parking lot - some a little dirty, a few a bit smelly - and a
Shoppers headed into Safeway for their milk last Sunday morning might not have noticed a group of tired men and women quietly hugging and congratulating each other in a back section of the parking lot - some a little dirty, a few a bit smelly - and all a lot closer as friends after the intense experience they had just come through together.
“Congrats, ” Cochrane Search and Rescue (CSAR) instructor Andy Potton told the proud and weary group in the moments before the celebration began.
“You're all operational. ”
That word carried a ton of weight for the 18 new recruits, who had just spent the last 24 hours trudging through thick brush north near Sundre to find and save four stranded hunters.
While the complex emergency scenario was fake - the hunters were actually trainers - the rugged conditions and scant resources the crew dealt with were very real, and the overnight trip was the final, make-or-break test after months of training to become full-fledged members of the search and rescue organization.
“They all enter as a group of individuals, ” said Potton of the exercise. “And then, the next morning, when we walk out of that overnight camp that we've created with no tents and no sleeping bags … (we're) a team. ”
Cochrane Search and Rescue was established in 2001 and currently has 57 members. Paramedics, engineers, police and ex-military officers, oil and gas professionals, tradespeople and others make up the eclectic group of professional volunteers, who all share that similar sense of community service.
The mission of the organization is to assist at a moment's notice in any emergency by performing difficult ground searches, deploying ATV resources and offering canine capabilities to look for missing persons, evidence, remains and more.
Last year alone, Cochrane's team responded to 25 incidents and 70 more events.
“Very quickly people get themselves beyond what they can do - and that's when we come in, ” said Alberta's search and rescue liaison officer Mike Cook, who works with 41 active SAR groups around the province. “We've done an incredible job … over the last 25 years. There are a lot of lives that have been saved. ”
Potton - who is a real estate agent - said personally he has been part of more than 75 operations in the six years since he first joined the crew.
Now, as a leader on the 24-hour recruit training trips, he gets a whole new perspective on what it takes to earn the orange Goretex jacket worn by SAR members.
“(They're) making exactly all the same mistakes, seeing all the frustrations, the anxiety, ” he said. “We've all been there, we've all done it … we've all turned up with our 85-litre rucksack packed full to the brim.
Last weekend's “no duff ” scenario had four teams of recruits perform a hasty search, then move into a more traditional search to look for four missing hunters in the thick and rugged brush.
“It was hard to tell where you were stepping and what you were stepping on, ” recalled recruit Joe Regnault, 26. “(I was thinking), ‘Am I in the right spot? And am I seeing everything I need to be seeing right now?' ”
Once teams located the missing men, Regnault said, “My first thought was passing off the radio so I could go into first aid mode. ”
Potton said the groups worked together to evacuate some of the patients and build a shelter over another injured hunter. From there, they constructed a shelter to protect themselves from the elements and built a huge fire to keep warm - since none of the recruits were allowed to use sleeping bags for the night.
“When you encounter a survival experience, it is not the same as going camping for the weekend or going on a backpack trip, ” said Potton. “We don't make people just set up a lean-to and light a fire and tear it down and go home - we make them experience it fully. That's a huge difference. ”
Into the wee hours, crews took turns performing night navigation with nothing but a compass and others minded the camp and kept watch for the area's bears, cougars and moose.
“The instructors were telling us their most memorable search and rescue stories … it was a good bonding experience, ” Regnault said. “There were a lot of silent moments, too, where we were all just staring at the fire. ”
When the sun began to rise the next morning, Potton said he watched as the recruits packed up to head home - and it was then that he knew the group would be fully ready to represent going forward.
“There's a lot of babysitting and handholding the first day because of that lack of confidence, ” he said. “It's always the morning after, when they're all out there tearing down, they're working together … the instructors aren't needed whatsoever. That's when you really know that they're good, they're solid. Now, the next call we get they can deploy as searchers.
“They've become operational. ”
Recruit Kendall Buckton said she was thankful her months of training had culminated in fulfilling a dream to be part of such a strong and like-minded service organization.
“This is something I've wanted to do for a very long time, ” she said. “I feel a lot closer to the group. (We're) here for a genuine wanting to help. ”
“Out in the woods, that drive to be a contributing member of the community is superior, ” echoed new SAR member Kyle Hannem. “It took a bunch of people that have hung out a little bit … to a team of people who are working together toward a common goal. ”
Potton said he's thrilled to welcome the strong group of new members, who will be the ones to carry the torch of the organization in the years to come.
“It's those guys who are going to drive forward what CSAR is going to be in five years, ” he said. “If you volunteer to do this, then there's a passion there that's often unrivalled by being paid, ” he said.
“It's all we do and it's what we do - and we live for it. ”
