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Long weekend emergencies keep crews busy

CVSAR members attended three incidents on Saturday
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Emergency responders attended to a woman at Kye Bay on Friday evening. Image, Google Maps

For most people, summer long weekends are a time to relax, but for emergency crews, these stretches can be anything but calm.

On Friday evening, Comox Fire Rescue and paramedics attended an incident at the beach at Kye Bay in Comox after a report of a woman in trouble in the water who had perhaps become unconscious.

“They were talking about doing an air evac,” said Fire Chief Gord Schreiner of Comox Fire Rescue.

RELATED STORY: Comox Valley Search and Rescue conducts simultaneous searches

B.C. Emergency Health Services confirmed they received a call on July 29 just after 6 p.m. about the incident near the 500 block of Windslow Road at Kye Bay. A spokesperson confirmed that two paramedic ground units and an air ambulance responded. Critical care paramedics cared for and transported the patient to hospital by ground ambulance.

BCEHS did not have details on the patient’s condition after being taken to hospital. The Record is waiting for more information.

The Kye Bay incident was not the only situation over the weekend. Comox Valley Search and Rescue (CVSAR) was called out for a few calls, with 18 to 20 people taking part.

“We could anticipate a busier call volume on a BC Day weekend … Three operations in a single day is busier than the norm,” said CVSAR president Paul Berry.

Mid-morning on Saturday, the team had a medical evacuation call involving an 84-year-old who had suffered injuries after a fall in the Seal Bay area. The person was transported to hospital for treatment.

After attending to this, CVSAR was called to assist after a pair of hikers had become lost in Strathcona Park. One of the problems for the pair that their dog Tofu was unable to walk any further.

“The dog had sustained injuries to its paws because of the hot rocks,” Berry said.

The hikers had also become disoriented over which direction they were heading after leaving from the Forbidden Plateau area. They had thought they were on the east side of Mount Drabble when, in fact, they were on the west side. They were found by a search using UTVs.

“We were able to locate them,” Berry said.

CVSAR members also were involved in rescuing an injured hiker on the Golden Hinde area in Strathcona Park. They worked as the regional hoist team with the Campbell River Volunteer Search and Rescue Society starting on Friday after one of the hikers ended up in a crevasse-like area overnight and was extracted on Saturday morning.

“The injured individual took a slide,” Berry said.

They were called again on Monday to respond to a medical evacuation at Strathcona Park, but the team was told to stand down after the party was able to hike out of the area on its own.

CVSAR is reminding everyone that extreme summer heat can be dangerous both for humans and animals. They also recommend reviewing planned routes and having good navigation skills when hiking in backcountry areas.



mike.chouinard@comoxvalleyrecord.com

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SAR members take part in a search for hikers in Strathcona Park on the BC Day weekend. Image, CVSAR Facebook page