By Times Chronicle Staff
The Oliver Osoyoos Search & Rescue (OOSAR) is having its open house this Saturday (Oct 26) and is looking new volunteers, both on the ground and in support roles.
A 100 per cent volunteer-driven organization, the Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue services a vast area of the South Okanagan.
This includes from the Canada/US border in the south, to Vaseaux Lake in the north, Mount Kobau and Orofino Mountain to the west, and as far east as Conkle Lake.
The local SAR also provides mutual aid response to adjacent Search and Rescue teams in Pentiction and Princeton meaning they could be out as far as Manning Park in the west and Kelowna in the north. And mutual is sometimes extended even further afield in the province.
The OOSAR also provides assistance when called upon to support other agencies and first responders including:
- Emergency Management BC (EMBC)
- RCMP and municipal police services
- Municipal fire services
- BC Ambulance Service
- Local and regional governments during civil emergencies.
Aside from finding missing hikers or evacuating injured from the wilderness the OOSAR also assists other agencies such as during wildfire events where evacuations are necessary, for example, the Eagle Bluff wildfire of 2023 in which hundreds of homes and businesses on the west side of Osoyoos and Richter Pass were evacuated.
From a community perspective, the organization provides first aid at various community events.
Just how busy the organization is varies year to year. Post-covid things have quietened down to “seasonal norms,” according to the OOSAR’s Mike Arychuk who was speaking recently on Bounce Radio. He noted that typically there are 20-25 searches in the year sometimes as low as 18 while other times they can reach as high as 30.
As for the recruitment drive, Arychuk said the organization is looking for “community-minded people who love the outdoors and have a propensity for wanting to help others”.
The open house this weekend will offer a glimpse of the different specializations that one can get into once they’ve done their basic training. Some of these specializations will be showcased on Saturday including, rope rescue, swift water rescue, and K9 search.
And for anyone interested in supporting the organization but not being in the field there are also a variety of important roles where volunteers are needed and OOSAR members will be able to answer any questions around that as well.
Arychuk noted that to be active in the field there is both a “level of fitness and a level of love of being outdoors” that is required. Once individuals join they are put through a basic ground SAR training program which takes about six months to slowly build up their skills.
And if for no other reason, stop by and check out the OOSAR facilities and equipment and meet the two search dogs Niki and Kaya.
The OOSAR Open House is taking place Saturday, Oct. 26 from 1-3 p.m. at 5868 Cessna Street, Oliver on the eastern side of the airport.
