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Oplopanax Horridus

Oplopanax Horridus

A veteran SAR volunteer's experiences in British Columbia

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Category: Blog Entry

Regular blog posts

On Avalanche accidents in BC

By Michael Coyle Posted on 24/11/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with avalanche, InfoSAR, safety, SAR, snow
On Avalanche accidents in BC

The survivability for avalanche accidents is low in BC.

The Shape of SAR in BC

By Michael Coyle Posted on 15/11/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with InfoSAR, numbers, SAR
The Shape of SAR in BC
SAR Member using a map

How does search and rescue work in British Colubmai

The InfoSAR project

By Michael Coyle Posted on 10/11/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with InfoSAR, numbers, SAR
The InfoSAR project
Travel on lightly snow-covered rocks

The InfoSAR project: to gather statistics and analyse search and rescue data for British Columbia

How to Kill Yourself Snowshoeing

By Michael Coyle Posted on 29/10/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay Tagged with accident, InfoSAR, numbers, safety, SAR, ski, snow, snowshoe, weather
How to Kill Yourself Snowshoeing

A review of snowshoe accidents in BC reveals that snowshoers are more likely to die in a slip and fall than in an avalanche.

On Getting Lost (Part 2): Corner and Edge Cases

By Michael Coyle Posted on 28/10/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay Tagged with how-to, lost, rescue, safety
On Getting Lost (Part 2): Corner and Edge Cases

Corner and edge cases for how people get lost, based on personal experience.

On getting lost

By Michael Coyle Posted on 27/10/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay Tagged with lost, safety, SAR

The couple left their house to walk the dog in the late afternoon, a little later than they had intended. It was winter, and the day had got away from them, but the dog needed a walk. They began on …

On getting lost Read more »

Death in the Backcountry

By Michael Coyle Posted on 24/10/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay Tagged with opinion, safety, SAR

Continued from Part 1 So I’ve been trained to dangle under a helicopter, and it’s fun. However, like a lot of things in SAR, it’s all fun until it’s for real. And this brings me to the second surprise I …

Death in the Backcountry Read more »

SAR Day 73: quick rescue in Squamish

By Michael Coyle Posted on 05/10/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, SAR Day Tagged with SAR, SARDay

I’ve been living in Squamish, BC, and since I’ve been here I asked my good friends at Squamish SAR to add me to their call out list. This summer it’s worked out quite well, as they tend to have interesting …

SAR Day 73: quick rescue in Squamish Read more »

SAR Day 72: AGM and hours not tracked.

By Michael Coyle Posted on 04/10/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, SAR Day Tagged with numbers, SAR, SARDay

We had our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday the 28th of September. As a Society under the province of British Columbia, we abide by the Society’s Act, and have to have an AGM once a year to elect our executive …

SAR Day 72: AGM and hours not tracked. Read more »

SAR Day 68, 69, 70, 71

By Michael Coyle Posted on 03/10/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, SAR Day Tagged with SAR, SARDay

SAR Day 68: Regular training – after a long series of tasks there is usually a large amount of gear cleanup and replacement to be done. The team maintains stocks of consumables that are used to replace those carried on …

SAR Day 68, 69, 70, 71 Read more »

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