THE NORTH Shore Rescue
Team (NSRT) celebrated its
30th anniversary Friday.

By Michael Becker
News Editor

Over the 30 years of its existence,
the team, has rescued 1,047 people
and recovered the bodies of 126 peo-
ple who died of misadventure in the
outdoors.

NSRT volunteers have conducted
895 search und rescue operations.

Most have occurred in darkness,
under poor weather conditions and
in hazardous mountain terrain.

While the team is often called out
to assist those in trouble within the
180-square-mile area of the North
Shore mountains, the team has also
assisted in search and rescue opera-
tions in Bella Coola, Pemberton, Mt.

- Waddington, Mt. Baker, Whistler,
Squamish and Vancouver Island.

North Shore mountain scarches
have required 62,000 hours of activ-

ity in the field.

In 1994 alone, the team respond-
ed to 60 calls involving 4,688 hours

1,047 rescued, 895 searches

in the field. In total for the year,
searches were launched for 103 peo-
ple. wo
Said NSRT training officer Alan
Dankes, “A record number of call-
outs were niade in the 1994.95 sea-
son, We hope this record will stand
for many years to come. However,
when we are called, so we will be
there.”

Throughout its history the team
has suffered only one serious injury
during a search and one training
fatality in 1989.

Three of the 45-member team,
brothers Dave Brewer, Gerry Brewer
and Karl Winter, have been with the
organization since its inception in
September [965,

The team was originally formed
as a unit of the Provincial Civil
Defence program. At the time, Cold
War planners were concerned with
the threat-of nuclear attack and the
need for heavy rescue capacity to
deal with collapsed buildings.

The original 10-member team
received training to handle fires, riot

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The rescue team was one of the
first in the province to develop train-
ing courses in human tracking, div-
ing and hypothermia treatment.

The increased use of helicopters
for search and rescue has resulted in
the team’s training with the
Canadian military to gain expertise
in working with helicopters and in
the area of aircraft rescue.

Dave Brewer was one of the first
to join the team 30 yeurs ago. He
was 26 years old.

“There was an ad in the paper
that said ‘wanted, young men for
civil defence,’ ” Brewer said. “it was
to help your community in preparing
for civil disaster. At that time they
were still talking about war and
bombs.”

Brewer, an administrator at

‘Capilano College, today remains

primarily active in the search man-

See Life page 15

Wednesday, November 8, 1995 — North Shore News — 74

SMEAR aR

Look down.

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