There were 77 search and rescue callouts over the Canada Day long weekend, according to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria.
The JRCC handles all organized search and rescue requests in B.C., the Yukon and 600 nautical miles off the Pacific coast.
This busy #Canada150 long-weekend your #JRCC responded to 77 #SAR cases. #ThatOthersMayLive pic.twitter.com/Jarp9p3DGI
— Victoria JRCC CCCOS (@VicJRCC_CCCOS) July 4, 2017
“Traditionally, Canada Day long weekend is one of our busiest search and rescue periods,” said navy Lt. Melissa Kia. “Higher volumes in our parks mean higher caseloads usually.”
The higher volume is down to the good weather, she added.
“We notice that we did do quite a high amount of medevac requests,” said Kia. “Usually that’s in response to small injuries and people calling in saying that they’re stuck in an area.”
Most of those cases are for hikers, Kia said. Medevacs aren’t just by air, she noted: the JRCC categorizes any situation where a person needs to be taken in for medical care as a medevac.
This weekend’s calls included eight boaters rescued from Pitt Lake in Pitt Meadows, two kayakers stranded in Golden Ears Provincial Park and two hikers stuck up on Mt. Arrowsmith in central Vancouver Island.