Coquitlam Search and Rescue

Coquitlam SAR is a Volunteer Search and Rescue team based in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.

Operating under the Provincial Emergency Program and tasked by local law enforcement and emergency personnel, we are responsible for inland water, wilderness and urban search and rescue in an 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. This primary area is over 1000km² and includes some of the most rugged and inaccessible terrain in the southwest region of the Province of British Columbia.

We also provide assistance to residents during natural disasters such as floods, forest fires, and earthquakes, and respond to requests for mutual aid from other SAR teams in BC, and in Washington State to the south.

Coquitlam Search and Rescue is dedicated to

providing professional Search, Rescue, First Aid and pre-hospital care to people in need
performing in a responsible, accountable and compassionate manner
teaching wilderness public safety education
striving for excellence in our service, and dedication to the team and our community.

This web site contains information about the team, pictures of us in action, an ongoing blog of our activities, acts as a portal for information about wildnerness safety and provides contact information for the public to see what a volunteer SAR team does.

2010 Starts With a Busy Weekend

News - Search
Written by Tom Zajac
Sunday, 03 January 2010
Coquitlam SAR started 2010 off with three requests for our assistance in the first weekend. On January 1^st, Coquitlam SAR was requested by the RCMP to search the PoCo Trail system for a lost male. The man had been on an all day walk along the PoCo Trail. Due to a pre-existing medical condition, his family became concerned he may have become lost when he didn’t return before darkness. Searchers were mobilized and began searching the trails and parks areas by foot and Argo. An RCMP Air Service helicopter also search by air. Just after 10pm, the man walked up to our command vehicle, unaware he was the subject of our search. On January 2^nd, Coquitlam SAR was mobilized by the RCMP for swiftwater search and rescue operation. A male was seen jumping into the Coquitlam river from a bridge and was swept downstream in the cold fast moving water. The male was spotted and pulled ashore by RCMP members before searchers could respond. He was taken to hospital with hypothermia. Read a media report for more information. On January 3^rd, Hope SAR requested the assistance of Coquitlam SAR to participate in an ongoing search of the Fraser River for lost male. The young man was believed to fall from the Hope Fraser bridge early on January 1st. Coquitlam 3, our Polaris rigid hull inflatable search boat was used to search the Fraser river between the Pitt and Pattullo bridges. This search is ongoing. Read a media report for more information.

New members perform well on recent searches

News - General News
Written by Coquitlam SAR
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Coquitlam Search and Rescue's recent recruitment drive resulted in the team taking on 17 new members. The team saw more applications, and of a higher caliber than any previous year. The membership committee, consisting of 7 regular members, spent three weeks winnowing through applications, and interviewing prospective members, the bring the number down to 17. This is the most new members the team has ever taken on at one time. Now the task of training these members, no small time commitment, falls to the training committee. However, learning from previous years, Coquitlam SAR issued the new members with several essential items of gear as soon as possible, one of these being the team pager. The member-in-training have started to learn all about the pager in the past few weeks, as Coquitlam SAR was called on the following tasks.
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Winter Conditions During Search on Eagle Ridge

News - Search
Written by Coquitlam SAR
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Coquitlam Search and Rescue was contacted by the RCMP on Tuesday, November 17th, requesting our assistance in locating a male hiker on Eagle Ridge. The lone hiker had set out on a day hike up the Halvor Lunden trail towards Lindsay Lake. At around 4pm, the hiker realized he was still too high up on Eagle ridge to successfully descend before dark and it was beginning to snow. The SAR managers were able to make contact with the hiker by cell phone. He was aware of his location and was prepared for the hike, however he admitted he did not have adequate clothing to spend the night. The hiker had a flashlight and was able to begin retracing his tracks in the snow back towards the Halvor Lunden trail.
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