With January 1st being the first day of a new annual cycle for Cochrane Search and Rescue (CSAR), we thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the non-profit organization. 

Bill Erickson, President for CSAR, says although they lost a few members over the course of 2018, twenty-three new recruits have been signed up and scheduled for orientation on January 9th. "I believe we had somewhere around 60 and 70 applications that wanted to join our team this year, so our intake committee was really busy with interviews, talking with people, and trying to narrow down the candidates for new members. We're really looking forward to them joining, they seem like a great bunch of people."

While people on the outside may assume that CSAR spends most of their time performing actual searches, it is not quite that way, says Erickson. "Our biggest commitment is the training right now. This last year, in 2018, we had seventy-five training exercises working out to just over 635 volunteer hours that people put in."

Depending on the year, assisting in actual incidents can sometimes be the least amount of volunteer hours. "Last year we had a total of nineteen incidents that we were called out on and that came to just over 218 hours of volunteer time. So the incidents are actually the smallest part of what we do but it is the most important part. That's where we go out and look for lost individuals, we do evidence searches for the RCMP if they need a hand, and other assistance items. That is why we do so much training; when you think that we did seventy-five training exercises for nineteen incidents it just goes to show how well prepared we are for whatever task gets thrown our way."

Assisting the RCMP with the recovery of despondent or deceased individuals is also something they can be tasked with depending on where they are located. "Recoveries are tough situations; when the RCMP find someone way back in the bush they don't always have the material, equipment, or manpower to extract a body and that is where we may get called in. This is also where we may lose one or two members a year because when we go out to do a search you never know what kind of condition you may find a lost person in."

Besides training and helping with calls, giving back to the community is also something Search and Rescue members invest their time in. While not all members attend every single event, the group usually sends anywhere from ten to twenty individuals in an effort to give back to the Cochrane community. "The system is saying we attended 54 events which comes to almost 559 volunteer hours; events could be anywhere from Canada Day, Cochrane Light Up, the Monumental Tournament of Aces, and some smaller events that we may attend throughout the year as well."

Although they attended some hard call outs in 2018, Erickson says the group becomes family. "We look after each other and we look after each other's backs. It is one of the things I really like about Search and Rescue, the family atmosphere so to speak. We all know what each other is experiencing, maybe not how they're handling it, but we know that they need support and we're there for that."

As Erickson looks forward to 2019, he is excited about all the possibilities that lie ahead. "Going forward into next year, with the new members we've got on, there's going to be a lot of great training sessions for them. We have also been approached and asked to do a one to a two-hour presentation at the Banff Wilderness Conference, so we have instructors within the organization that are going to put that together and share some of our searching knowledge."

To also make things easier, the organization has also named some of its more veteran members as 'mentors' to assist the new recruits with any questions or concerns. "This is a new idea that has been brought forward and we are going to implement it. We're looking forward to it being good support and hoping it will help make them more comfortable, and then we're hoping our retention will be better as well."

While it is anyone's guess as to what 2019 will bring the group, Erickson and all the CSAR members are ready. 

If you would like to learn more about membership and the great work Cochrane Search and Rescue performs you can check them out at http://cochranesearchandrescue.org 

Also, if interested, they have a series of instructional videos for people that are curious about or frequent the backcountry called 'Distance to Assistance' posted on the group's Facebook page which you can find HERE