Who we are

We are a team of unpaid professionals who respond to land based search and rescue emergencies within the Juan de Fuca electoral area including all inland waters.

Our group of 50 members is made up of people from all walks of life, including: fire-fighters, health care workers, truck drivers, government workers, secretaries, teachers, students, home-makers, police officers and many more.

What we do

We are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year and provide an emergency response to:

• Subjects who become lost in the wilderness setting (hikers, hunters, climbers, campers, kayakers)
• Subject who become injured in the wilderness setting
• Subjects who become lost in an urban, or sub-urban setting (people with dementia, children, people with mental health disorders)
• Subjects unaccounted for, or injured, or to assist other emergency services in an urban, sub-urban or wilderness setting as a result of a natural disaster (earthquake, tsunami, flooding, etc.)
• Subjects unaccounted for, or injured, or to assist other emergency services in the event of a man-made disaster
• Provide evidence search services to the police upon their request
• Provide body recovery services to the police and/or the coroner at their request

Specialty Teams

Everyone is part of our Ground Search and Rescue team. We train a minimum of twice a month.  All of our members must meet the minimum requirements as laid out by the Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice, under Emergency Management BC (EMBC), and the Justice Institute of BC (JIBC).

We also have a number of sub-teams, that receive very specialized training, and become experts in that specific area.

• High angle rope rescue team
• Swiftwater team
• Tracking team
• K9 team
• Advanced first aid team
• Project Life-saver International team
• Communications & IT team
• HQ team

Where we respond

Our primary response area is the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area, which is on the west coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Our primary mutual aid response area is the rest of southern Vancouver Island, and the southern Gulf Islands.

Our secondary mutual aid areas include the rest of Vancouver Island, and the northern Gulf Islands.

Our specialty teams respond to SAR emergencies anywhere in BC, and have also assisted in SAR calls in Washington State.