Image: Supplied by Kent Harrison Search and Rescue / KHSAR responded to two back-to-back incidents Friday involving an injured hiker and a group of campers whose float became caught in high winds and rough water.
Search & rescue

Kent Harrison Search and Rescue assists injured hiker, stranded campers caught in high winds and rough water

Aug 28, 2022 | 7:00 AM

HARRISON — Kent Harrison Search and Rescue (KHSAR) are there when you need them, and they’ve been doing it since 1976.

They went the extra mile over the weekend by assisting a group of stranded campers whose float became caught in high winds and rough water, as well as rescuing an injured hiker on the Sandy Cove Trail in Harrison Hot Springs, according to a social media post from KHSAR.

When the campers needed help Friday (Aug. 26) and weren’t able to return to shore on their float, KHSAR responded by deploying its Spirit of Harrison vessel, a 26-foot aluminum San Juan Landing craft powered by twin Yamaha 200 outboards; it is capable of a swift response to any shoreline.

The Spirit of Harrison boat was launched and was able to soon locate the stranded group, with thanks to local kayakers who aided in the rescue.

Image: Supplied by Kent Harrison Search and Rescue / KHSAR responded to two back-to-back incidents Friday involving an injured hiker and a group of campers whose float became caught in high winds and rough water.

The second call for service Friday came when a hiker suffered injuries on the Sandy Cove Trail; the Spirit of Harrison was able to transport crews and equipment to the beach where rescue personnel located and packaged the subject. KHSAR subsequently returned to hand over the injured individual to a waiting ambulance crew.

KHSAR extended thanks to the RCMP and B.C. Emergency Health Services for their help.

The search and rescue group is an unpaid group of about 25 volunteers that responds to an average of 50 calls a year, with the majority of incidents occurring between April and October. Volunteers expend thousands of hours each year on incident responses, training, maintenance, repair and administration, its webite states.

All KHSAR members are trained in Ground Search and Rescue, including first aid, survival, communications, ICS (Incident Command System), Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), and search techniques.