A 65 year old Oliver resident was evacuated from a mountainside overlooking Cawston BC Wednesday by a PENSAR heli rescue team.
Randy Brown – SAR Manager advised that the Victoria Emergency Coordination Centre called PENSAR shortly after 2:00 P.M. when a 911 call requesting medical assistance from an injured hunter was received.
The Oliver resident had been hunting in the mountain area west of Oliver when his ATV overturned which resulted in a suspected leg fracture. With no GPS coordinates, Keremeos RCMP were able to provide the rescue team with a location using the cell signal. This information along with phone contact with the hunter allowed rescuers to locate the subject in the mountains east of Cawston, B.C.
The subject once located was immediately airlifted back to Penticton where he was transferred to an awaiting ambulance. The injuries are not suspected to be life threatening. Brown noted that the team was able to quickly evacuate the subject from the area due to having good coordinates, the call being received in early in the afternoon which allowed for the use of a helicopter to speed the rescue effort. “ We usually get these calls close to sunset, which would have possibly negated the use of aircraft, and everything would have had to conducted via land. This would have made for a long prolonged rescue effort over difficult terrain.” Brown adds and reinforces the same message when out in the back- country.
Brown added that the coordination between police, ambulance and the SAR team was seamless and aided in the quick response.
Source: PENSAR