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Oplopanax Horridus

A veteran SAR volunteer's experiences in British Columbia

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Backcountry Safety is a Shared Responsibility

By Michael Coyle Posted on 04/10/2019 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with safety
Backcountry Safety is a Shared Responsibility

The only constant in life is human fallability, so when we’re away from the social safety net, we need to know we can rely on each other.

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Are “selfies” hazardous?

By Michael Coyle Posted on 05/07/2018 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with #TrailHeadSelfie, grim, instagram, rescue
Are “selfies” hazardous?

From a Search and Rescue perspective none of these reasons for climbing a mountain makes a damn bit of difference.

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“Dog Walker” Behaviour Profile

By Michael Coyle Posted on 26/01/2018 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with management, map, rescue, SAR
“Dog Walker” Behaviour Profile

Musing on managing a recent multi day search for a missing dog walker, and a lost person behaviour profile for Dog Walkers

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Reflections on 2017

By Michael Coyle Posted on 31/12/2017 Posted in Blog Entry 1 Comment Tagged with 2017, health, PKD, review, SAR
Reflections on 2017

It’s another self reflective blog post about the year in review!

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Accidental Triggering of SPOT device

By Michael Coyle Posted on 25/09/2017 Posted in Blog Entry 5 Comments Tagged with SAR, satellite, SEND, SPOT, technology
Accidental Triggering of SPOT device
Another view of malfunctioning button cover.

Accidental trigger of a SPOT device, general discussion of devices limitations, and how to avoid them.

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The Snapchat search

By Michael Coyle Posted on 20/09/2017 Posted in Blog Entry, Short Posts No Comments Tagged with SAR, Snapchat, social media
The Snapchat search
Image of trailhead

Using Snapchat stories to locate missing 3 missing hikers

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Long term SAR Trends in British Columbia

By Michael Coyle Posted on 08/09/2017 Posted in Blog Entry 4 Comments Tagged with information, InfoSAR, statistics
Long term SAR Trends in British Columbia

Emergency Management BC published the yearly summary statistics for emergency response in BC and like last year I did some analysis. We now have 20 years of statistics on SAR in BC! You may recall that last year there seemed …

Long term SAR Trends in British Columbia Read more »

SAR Media Tropes

By Michael Coyle Posted on 26/05/2017 Posted in Blog Entry 4 Comments Tagged with media, Tropes
SAR Media Tropes

A trope is a kind of conceptual shorthand often used in storytelling – but the harm the larger issue of backcountry safety.

SAR Missing Persons Database

By Michael Coyle Posted on 24/03/2017 Posted in Blog Entry 4 Comments Tagged with missing, SAR
SAR Missing Persons Database

There’s no central list of missing persons SAR groups in BC have been unable to find. I’d like to create one.

Depressed open skull fracture

By Michael Coyle Posted on 14/03/2017 Posted in Blog Entry 1 Comment Tagged with medical
Depressed open skull fracture

First responders may not be able to diagnose a skull fracture in the field.

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BlueToque Software
BlueToque Software
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TrueNorth Geospatial
TrueNorth Geospatial
The mapping software I designed for SAR
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Locate people using their SmartPhones

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Recent

  • Backcountry Safety is a Shared Responsibility
  • Are “selfies” hazardous?
  • “Dog Walker” Behaviour Profile
  • Reflections on 2017
  • Accidental Triggering of SPOT device

Tags

accident avalanche backcountry climbing communications death dementia emergency funding gear GPS grim helicopter HETS how-to InfoSAR Logan 2011 management map meta news numbers olympics opinion rant rescue review risk safety SAR SARDay search ski smart phone SMS snow snowshoe social media tech technology training Tyler Wright UAV video weather

Blogroll

  • AdventureSmart
  • Coquitlam SAR
  • North Shore Hikers
  • North Shore Outdoor
  • Outdoor Vancouver
  • Roland Web Memorial
  • SARBayes
  • TrueNorth Geospatial
  • Wayne Flann's Avalanche Blog

Older stuff

Recent

  • Backcountry Safety is a Shared Responsibility
  • Are “selfies” hazardous?
  • “Dog Walker” Behaviour Profile
  • Reflections on 2017
  • Accidental Triggering of SPOT device

Blogroll

  • AdventureSmart
  • Coquitlam SAR
  • North Shore Hikers
  • North Shore Outdoor
  • Outdoor Vancouver
  • Roland Web Memorial
  • SARBayes
  • TrueNorth Geospatial
  • Wayne Flann's Avalanche Blog

Projects

  • BlueToque Software
  • Missing Poster Generator
  • TrueNorth Geospatial
  • YourLo.ca/tion

Resource

  • AdventureSmart
  • Canadian Avalanche Association
  • Canadian Avalanche Centre
  • TrueNorth Geospatial

Projects

  • BlueToque Software Software architecture, design and build BlueToque Software Software architecture, design and build
  • Missing Poster Generator Easy generation, printing and sharing of missing posters Missing Poster Generator Easy generation, printing and sharing of missing posters
  • TrueNorth Geospatial Mapping software for backcountry professionals TrueNorth Geospatial Mapping software for backcountry professionals
  • YourLo.ca/tion A simple location finding, sharing and tracking service for SAR teams YourLo.ca/tion A simple location finding, sharing and tracking service for SAR teams
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Oplopanax Horridus Copyright © 2013 by Michael Coyle
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