Today, North Shore Rescue members attended the Rememberance Day ceremony at the North Vancouver cenataph. NSR members, Tim Jones, Bridget Milsom and Peter Haigh, laid a wreath at the cenataph. Today we brought NS 1 ("The looking glass"), NS 4 ("The Batt Mobile") and NS 6 ("knuckles"). NS 6 participated in the parade to the legion on 15th and Lonsdale, after which all members returned to the Embassy to clean up and make sure the equipment was ready to go in case of a call.
Every year we also set up a small scale triage center for people who may feel faint, sick or overwhelmed by the ceremony. This year we dealt with upwards 15 members of the public and air/sea/army cadets who needed minor medical attention during the ceremony.
North Shore Rescue members, HFRS technicians, and kayak response team members gathered along with BC Parks rangers on Sunday for our annual recurrency, HFRS awareness and lead-up to a large scale January excercise on Grouse Mountain. The day consisted of a briefing in the morning, followed by in and out rescue evolutions utlizing "screamer suits" for rapid deployment. In the afternoon, members practiced with the river rescue basket by doing short-haul and in-out trips.
Although the weather was far from cooperative, conditions did permit for the large majority of the training/recurrency/lead-up to go ahead.
Overall a busy weekend for rescue volunteers; with hover entry/exit training on Saturday, and Helicopter Flight Rescue System training on Sunday. This level of dedication keeps us ready to respond to a call, and allows us to best serve the public interest. Although these training sessions are of a significant cost to the NSR society, the safety and performance results are without a price tag.
One of the key features of this exercise is the demonstrable need for a non-military rescue helicopter to be made available during the Olympics for "outside the fence" calls. NSR has a strong relationship with Talon Helicopters, who have both the right aircraft (small, powerful aircraft capable of safely entering tight terrain) and the expertise (flying ability, terrain knowledge, and invaluable familiarity with local SAR teams) to perform safe, efficient and life-saving operations that may otherwise be unavailable during the 2010 winter games. It is hoped that the provincial government will provide a standby civilian helicopter for local SAR teams during the event.
Today NSR members participated in the annual recurrency training for helicopter hover entry and exit. This involves a dry land session, where members practice their skills under the supervision of rescue pilots and senior instructors. Followed by live excercises out on the Tarmac. Today's exercises covered such skills as:
Hover Entry/Exit (entering and leaving a helicopter while still off the ground)
Hover patient loading (on stretcher and semi-ambulatory)
Heli-Ops and Crew person awareness
Sling Loads
LZ preparation and a control
These skills are extremely important, as helicopters are a tool that are regularly employed in SAR operations. Having members trained to a high level helps ensure a safe and succesful mission.
On today's particular exercise we were interupted by the arrival of the Prince of Whales (Charles) being dropped off in a Canadian Forces Airbus. Recertification activities were temporarily stood down to allow the welcoming ceremony to take place. You can see pictures of the event by checking out our flickr page or facebook fan page.
So there has been a mountain bike locked up at the base of grouse for a couple days. We would really like to find out who this bike belongs to and hopefully check off that there is no one missing. Please read the North Vancouver RCMP press release below. If you know of this bike, call the number; if you know someone who might know, forward this on to them.
North Vancouver RCMP are seeking the public's assistance to identify the owner of a red and black Specialized CrossTrail bike that has been locked to a bike rack at the base of Grouse Mountain for several days. Grouse Mountain staff are concerned that it may belong to a hiker who has not returned and has not been reported as missing.
If you own this bike or know the owner please contact the North Vancouver RCMP at 604 985-1311 and cite file number 2009-31532.
NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - With the return of standard time on Sunday, it gets dark an hour earlier, and several people were caught off-guard on the Grouse Grind yesterday.
Today, North Shore Rescue members attended the Rememberance Day ceremony at the North Vancouver cenataph. NSR members, Tim Jones, Bridget Milsom and Peter Haigh, laid a wreath at the cenataph. Today we brought NS 1 ("The looking glass"), NS 4 ("The Batt Mobile") and NS 6 ("knuckles"). NS 6 participated in the parade to the legion on 15th and Lonsdale, after which all members returned to the Embassy to clean up and make sure the equipment was ready to go in case of a call.
