North Shore Rescue members should soon have an easier time finding people lost in the bush thanks to a donation helicopter-mounted infrared camera from Port Metro Vancouver.
The camera, which is worth upwards of $500,000 new, was previously used on one of the Port’s patrol boats.
“They reached out to a number of people and we were the lucky ones that managed to get it in the end,” said Mike Danks, North Shore Rescue team leader. “It’s going to make a big difference for us.”
The only other local chopper with similar technology is the RCMP’s Air 1, which typically isn’t available for search and rescue missions.
Instead of peering through the tree canopy from above and seeing nothing but shadows, the camera senses a person’s heat signature and locks on to them.
“I think it’s really going to be beneficial for those time-compressed calls where we have someone that’s calling just before darkness. That’s when we’re scrambling to get an aircraft up and we’re trying to spot these people really quickly,” Danks said.
The team had two rescues in recent weeks in which they had to spend the night on the cold mountainsides with lost hikers because they were too difficult to reach before darkness fell.
One involved a 68-year-old German tourist who had gotten off-trail between the BCMC and Bluff trails on Grouse Mountain and wound up stranded at the base of a 60-metre cliff above a waterfall.
“He would have been like a beacon, if you will. Looking at the camera, you would see this guy glowing there,” Danks said.
As part of the agreement with Talon Helicopters, the camera will be available for neighbouring search and rescue teams as well.
Team members still have to be trained and there’s no guarantee yet that the rescuers won’t accidentally locate a bear minding its own business and strap it into a long-line helicopter harness.
“Who knows? Maybe we will,” Danks said with a laugh.
While the camera will hopefully make rescues faster and safer for hikers and North Shore Rescue members, it won’t be a substitute for good planning before heading into the backcountry, Danks said.
The team has carried out 122 rescue calls this year and volunteered more than 20,000 hours in rescue and training time, leaving the volunteers exhausted. Danks has been lobbying the North Shore’s MLAs for a meeting to discuss changing the way North Shore Rescue is funded in light of the high call volume but so far, most of the help has come from the community and local businesses.
“The community has rallied around us. We’ve seen an increase in donations and we’re putting all those donations towards the Tim Jones Legacy Fund, which is great. We’re slowly picking away at that fund,” Danks said.
The fund, originally conceived by Tim Jones, has now reached just over $550,000 on its way to a $6-million goal.
Developer Marcon donated $20,000 earlier this month and Danks said he’s meeting with another large real-estate company this week.
