North Shore Rescue needs new recruits following busiest year

Chalk 2015 up as one of the busiest — in 50 years — for the North Shore Rescue team. And with no sign of their business of saving lives slowing down, they have started their recruiting process a little earlier this year.

The need to recruit comes on the heels of an incredibly demanding year, with the team logging more than 135 emergency calls and normal attrition that happens on the squad.

READ MORE: North Shore Rescue being stretched physically and financially to the limit

NSR is a volunteer mountain search and rescue team based in Vancouver and it’s not a large crew. It’s comprised of 40 active members, who do the field work and 20 resource people that provide support for the team.

Anyone interested in applying for NSR needs to fill out their application by Jan. 8 and be available for an orientation hike on Jan. 10. The hike is an opportunity for applicants to get to know NSR members as well as showcase your trail skills (and the basic gear needed).

NSR’s blog lists a number of reasons (and debunks them) about why applicants may not apply, which include:

“I am not a paramedic or a mountain guide” — not a problem as NSR is made up of people with a lot of different backgrounds like lawyers, doctors, students, programmers, etc and while some technical skills are needed, NSR trains everyone from the ground up.

“NSR expects an insane amount of your personal time” — most new members meet and surpass the minimum hours not because they have to, but because they want to.

MORE: NSR in the news

Why do the men and women volunteer for NSR?

Danks says for a lot of the members it becomes a passion.

“Once you do your first rescue it’s so rewarding to see the look in that person’s eyes as well as their families,” he says.

“And for a lot of us, it’s about being part of the community and supporting it. We want to encourage people to get in the outdoors, and we want them to know we’ve got their backs.”

For more information, head to NSR’s website.