The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic games are officially underway. As a volunteer team involved with outdoor activities, is it not surprising Coquitlam SAR members are doing their part to help out. At last count 11 or our SAR members are in various positions around Vancouver and Whistler.

• Two members are providing specialized helicopter rescue services to the Downhill events at Whistler Mountain. One member has already been involved with a HETS extraction of US racer Stacey Cook after a crash while training.
• Two members are providing athlete event medical care.
  • Freestyle events at Cypress Mountain
  • Hockey events at UBC Thunderbird and Canada Hockey Place
• Two members are embedded in the Provincial Regional Emergency Operations Center (PREOC) responsible for coordinating emergency response for the Olympic area.
• One member is part of the Police team in Whistler as part of the Integrated Security Unit.
• A member is involved with transportation of athletes and dignitaries.
• A member is part of the Weasel Workers on the Downhill events in Whistler.
• A member is volunteering on Grouse Mountain, a major international media location.

Of course during games time, Coquitlam SAR is responsible for our usual Search and Rescue capabilities as well as mutual aid to other agencies. During the opening ceremonies, Coquitlam SAR was put on standby to assist North Shore Rescue with a possible missing person on Seymour. She was located safe at home.

Preparations for SAR operations during the Olympic period took a large amount of effort. Coquitlam SAR members liaised with other SAR groups and many outside agencies to work around Olympic specific search and rescue issues. This includes airspace restrictions, planning with Blackcomb Helicopters, and security restrictions on the North Shore mountains.