Emergency responders in the Okanagan headed to Silver Star Mountain to give the public an inside look into some of their training and techniques.
“I think it’s important for people to see this because it gives them a bit of an understanding when you don’t quite know what’s actually happening, or maybe it gives you that opportunity to talk to somebody who is in an ambulance,” said Phil Gaudette, Silver Star patrol and safety manager.
The star of the RCMP team, a 6-year-old German Shepherd called Dash, showed how he catches the bad guys, but also his more playful side.
Firefighters demonstrated use of the jaws of life on an old car with a dummy inside.
“Understanding what we’re doing means that when you’re in that situation and you’ve got a tarp over your head, you can understand ‘OK, now they’re smashing the glass, now they’re going after the door, I can be calm. I’m in safe hands,’” Silver Star Fire and Rescue firefighter Denys Lawrence said.
Ski patrol also showed how stranded skiers and snowboarders on the chairlift would be rescued.
“It’s super-simple and safe,” ski patrol member Emily Scott said. “We get a rope up over the line, and then we get what’s called a T-seat, and we pull it up to the people on the chairlift and they hop onto it, then we lower them down to the ground.”