North Shore Rescue frustrated, as warnings to hikers go unheeded
Posted October 4, 2015 10:18 pm.
Last Updated October 5, 2015 9:46 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NORTH SHORE (NEWS 1130) – Less than a week after we told you how members of North Shore Rescue are dealing with an unprecedented number of lost and stranded hikers this year, it has been another busy weekend for the dedicated volunteers — and it isn’t over yet.
Teams were stretched very thin over the weekend, dealing with five rescues.
The latest rescue at Lynn Valley Headwaters Park was for a woman who became separated from her husband and her cell phone died. She was the 10th person rescued since Saturday.
“We keep stressing to people you cannot rely on your cell phone in the back country… The cell service is really terrible up there,” says North Shore Rescue Team Leader Mike Danks.
Danks says people are getting too complacent and aren’t prepared.
“People think they can just phone 9-1-1 from anywhere they are and help is going to come in a 9-1-1 fashion. We can’t operate that way. People need to be prepared when they’re going out in the back country and they need to be able to take care of themselves. People aren’t doing the research on the hikes that they’re doing and they’re not allowing themselves enough time to get out before dark.”
His message has gone out several times, as North Shore Rescue has taken a record number of calls this year: 119 and counting.
“The frustrating part of these five hikers is that we determined their location and we asked them to stay put and they continued to hike which is a real challenge to us,” says Danks.
