Victoria Commits $10 Million for SAR
Prince George, B.C. – Just days after an avalanche claimed the life of a snowmobiler northeast of Prince George, the provincial government has announced $10 million in funding for ground search and rescue volunteers.
Minister of State for Emergency Preparedness Naomi Yamamoto announced Wednesday the goal of the one-time funding is to help bolster training, administrative support and equipment renewals.
“Over the coming months, the BC Search and Rescue Association will work with its membership to bolster ground search and rescue services throughout the province,” reads a government news release.
“Once allocated, the funding will be spent according to the needs of the local ground search and rescue teams.”
The government already spends $6.3 million annually on ground search and rescue operational costs for deployment, as well as training and equipment costs and the insurance and liability for all 80 ground search and rescue teams in B.C.
Prince George Search and Rescue have yet to comment on this funding announcement, though they recently received another endorsement to add to its efforts to create a regional helicopter external transportation system (HETS) team (see related story here).
Comments
Thank you. give them the tools and training.
the tools without training are why we have SAR. If more of those tools would get trained and use the most important survival instrument that lies between the ears, we may not have to spend this kind of resource.
Yes every rescue is of a “tool”
Eyeroll
Spoken like a true couch potato
A worthy cause…Thank you S A R for you dedication and service.
We should never speak in absolutes, especially when one is refuting a misinterpreted comment.
Nothing was said of “every rescue”. The implication was of many rescues, not all.
Yes, many rescues are for tools, fools and urban wannabees.
Proper Preparation Prevents Pitiful Poor Performance.
Please read for content without imparting opinion until you understand the statements.
A SAR-Fire Rescue member told me during a training session once when we were talking about funding rescue and anaylizing ignorant assumptions about the program. The guy was mad because they were cutting some funding.. And I think this fits for Loki as he/she has their head firmly planted in their ass on this subject.. Here is the quote. Especially for you Loki.
“Remember the face your insulting because it’s connected to the ass you will be kissing in your time of need.”
Now this was not affiliated with any PG SAR or Fire-Rescue.
This additional funding is long over due.
Not everyone needing rescue is tool or a fool, but Loki is right, many of them are.
Fail to plan = plan to fail.
metalman.
While I understand the points that Loki & metalman are making they have to realize that sometimes sh*t happens & no amount of planning can compensate. Having seen our local SAR operate first hand I have to say that not only was I impressed but the sobering thought that ” thank god there is a resource like this that is readily available should I need it” passed through my head several times during the rescue I was involved in. I am more than happy to not only donate but to see my tax dollars go toward such a worthy cause. These people volunteer their time & resources, put their lives on the line, they deserve our respect & monetary help.
Comments for this article are closed.