Coquitlam Search and Rescue is hoping to add a new weapon to its emergency response arsenal.
The volunteer team has committed to developing a helicopter external transportation system (HETS), which will allow searchers the ability to pull people out of remote areas from the air.
During an HETS rescue, a searcher is suspended from a helicopter by a 200-foot line into remote areas where helicopters cannot land. The rescuer is able to reach the subject and has the ability to assess the person medically and prepare them for the flight out.
The system, said CSAR president Garry Mancell, would eliminate hours of stretcher carrying and would improve response times as well as allow crews to respond quickly and avoid some of the injuries that can come when carrying a person through rough terrain on a stretcher.
Currently, the organization relies on rescue teams from the North Shore when it conducts its HETS rescues and Mancell said it is important that CSAR also have the capability.
"Having our own HETS team will enable our team to respond to an emergency within minutes," Mancell said. "The need... has increased over the last few years and is now the point where we as a team are willing to invest the time to develop and train members with the skills necessary to maintain our own HETS team."
Dwight Yochim, search manager with CSAR, told The Tri-City News HETS was used five or six times in the last year and its use has been steadily increasing in recent years.
But while he believes the system is necessary, it does come at a significant price. Purchasing the necessary equipment will likely cost the team $25,000 and training is expected to cost an additional $25,000.
"HETS is a rescue system that we use more than any other so it makes sense for our team to be able to do this," he said. "But at the same time, we are not going to race into this. It takes quite a bit of expertise and training."
Yochim said the organization will rely on funding from the city's Spirit of Coquitlam grants (funded by the money it receives as host city to the Boulevard Casino) and is also looking to the community for donations. He expects the program will be in place in the next eight months.
CSAR is a volunteer organization tasked with helping those who are lost or injured in the 1,600 km area bounded by Indian Arm on the west, Pitt Lake on the east, Garibaldi Park to the north and the Fraser River to the south. For more information go to www.coquitlam-sar.bc.ca.
