Tag Archives: InfoSAR

Map of SAR Incidents in BC 2011

Posted on 25/01/2012 by Michael Coyle

My good friend Rick Laing, SAR Manager and member of Ridge Meadows SAR and GIS guru sent me a link to a map he published. It has the locations of all of the SAR teams in BC, and includes all of … Continue reading →

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Archived Avalanche Bulletins

Posted on 02/01/2012 by Michael Coyle

I’ve always wondered why the CAA’s web site doesn’t have a link to the archived avalanche bulletins. I could be wrong, but I just can’t find it. It’s not a normal thing to want to go back and look at … Continue reading →

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Accidents in Incidents: A review of SAR-related injuries

Posted on 07/01/2011 by Michael Coyle

Any reader of my blog knows I love numbers. Collecting information can tell you a lot of things; it can tell the shape of a problem, whether the problem is big, small or insignificant, and it can define problems that … Continue reading →

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Frequency of SAR Incidents

Posted on 19/12/2010 by Michael Coyle

Most SAR teams maintain records of each incident independently from PEP, but even if they didn’t I’m sure they would all agree; there are more SAR incidents in the summer than in the winter. Further, calls come with greater frequency … Continue reading →

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Distribution of SAR Incidents in BC

Posted on 17/12/2010 by Michael Coyle

I was at a meeting last night and heard a SAR member state a bald claim that the Southwest region of BC has more incidents than the rest of BC combined. I was pretty sure this was not the case … Continue reading →

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Non-Avalanche Related Snow Immersion Death

Posted on 09/12/2010 by Michael Coyle

I was reading a local hiking/mountaineering forum recently when I came across this post detailing a very scary incident that happened to a skier at a local resort. And then I learned a new acronym: NARSID. Now I have never … Continue reading →

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SAR Numbers from other Provinces

Posted on 08/12/2010 by Michael Coyle

For years I’ve been told that British Columbia has more SAR incidents than the rest of Canada combined. This sounds hard to believe, as BC has 4 million people (13% of Canada) and only comprises about 10% of the total … Continue reading →

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How to NOT kill Yourself Snowshoeing

Posted on 29/11/2010 by Michael Coyle

I remember borrowing a pair of crampons for my first ascent of Mount Baker in 1990, and the advice of the lender. “Make sure these thing fit” he said, “because if they come off and you’re on the ice you’re … Continue reading →

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The (textual) shape of SAR in BC

Posted on 27/11/2010 by Michael Coyle

One of the first things I thought of when I took a look at the PEP incident summaries is that it would be interesting to do a word frequency visualization of the summaries themselves. Commonly referred to as “Tag Clouds”, a … Continue reading →

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On Avalanche accidents in BC

Posted on 24/11/2010 by Michael Coyle

It’s winter, and for some people that means snow sports. For SAR teams that means avalanche training. Now, you might think that SAR teams train to rescue people from avalanches. This is not the case. The primary reason Search and … Continue reading →

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