Penticton and District Search and Rescue (PENSAR) volunteers spent their Sunday helping to teach bikers and hikers how to stay safe in the back country.
PENSAR crews, along with representatives from the federal government’s Adventure Smart program, were stationed next to a busy recreational trail so they could talk to path users.
Their aim was to give people the information they need to recreate safely and also cut down on preventable calls to search and rescue.
“Most of them are preventable actually. A lot of people do go very ill prepared for the weather [and] also for their physical conditions,” Brian Lang with PENSAR said.
Officials reminded trail users to tell friends or family where they are going before they head out. That way if a hiker or biker gets lost PENSAR crews will at least have information about where to start the search.
Read More: PENSAR rescues severely injured 15-year-old girl
PENSAR also recommending trail users bring the right equipment with them.
It’s advice that recently hit home for Linnette Gratton. Her husband was injured while out cycling in June and needed search and rescue’s help.
“It was late in the evening and it started to rain. We actually were in a situation by the time help came to us. It was dark, he was wet and he could have been hypothermic. Having even more emergency stuff with us could have made us more prepared,” Gratton said.
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Gratton said friends were able to bring them supplies but if the injury happened in a more remote area, that might not have been the case.
“It really was a wake-up call to understand how important it is to be prepared,” Gratton said.
People seem to be taking the preparedness message to heart.
“People who are recreating generally overall are preparing better and better over time,” Randy Brown with PENSAR said.
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