The Saturday April 21 edition of the Toronto Star has a very interesting article on a Search & Rescue mission to rescue two Inuit hunters gone very wrong. (page IN1, "A rescue nightmare in Arctic") http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/1165241--how-did-search-and…
The two hunters had left Igloolik on Baffin Island last fall to go walrus hunting from a small boat, when the weather turned bad. They activated their SPOT beacon Oct. 26, 2011 at 9:19 pm. By the time they were rescued at 10:50 pm the next evening, most of eastern Canada's SAR resources had been brought into play on this one call, and one SAR technician was dead.
A Hercules transport was initially sent from Winnipeg, but since the hunters were on the ocean, it couldn't do anything. A Griffon utility helicopter could have been brought in to hoist the men from the boat, but this was found to be impossible since the closest was somewhere in the south. So a larger Cormorant was sought. The closest was in Gander, but it (like so much of our military's flying hardware) apparently could not make the long flight due to "airframe hours and cycles." Finally, they found a Cormorant in Greenwood, N.S. To cover this extraordinarily long flight, it had to re-fuel in Goose Bay, Kuujjuaq, and Cape Dorset. Since the journey was beyond its normal capabilities, it would have needed an accompanying plane for safety if it were to fly over the ocean directly there. As one was not available, the helicopter had to follow the coast. Another Hercules was dispatched from Trenton with two SAR technicians on board. Meanwhile, attempts were made to obtain an Aurora long range patrol plane, or even a Twin Otter, but without success. So then, a third Hercules was then sent from Greenwood, N.S., though it only had a few hours of flying time available before it was to go in for scheduled maintenance. Additionally, a fourth Hercules took off from Trenton, only to turn around five hours later as by then it was not needed. Finally, the Coast Guard icebreaker Henry Larsen was dispatched to the scene, though it was two days sailing time away.
Since the SAR technicians arrived hours before the Cormorant will be on the scene, they decided to jump from the Hercules with a couple of large rubber rafts for them and the hunters, so that they could provide assistance. One of the technicians made it, but the other was separated from the big raft, so deployed his one-man emergency raft. By the time the four were pulled from the ocean, the SAR technician in the little emergency raft was unresponsive and became the only fatality.
We take our hat of to the courageous men and women of our Search & Rescue teams, and to our armed forces personnel who support them. These people put their lives on the line to help us if things go wrong out in the wilds.
The unexpected can happen to even the most experienced travellers in remote areas, despite meticulously careful planning. Nonetheless, when we head out on that canoe or kayak trip, we need to keep in mind the potentially serious consequences of mishaps when so far from help. The danger isn't only to us, but also to those who may come to help us. While sat phones and locator beacons are wonderful pieces of technology, we should never come to rely on them or allow them to become substitutes for personal responsibility and prudent behaviour.
This episode should also be a somber heads-up that just because we carry a sat phone or beacon, we should not assume it guarantees a fast rescue. The unfortunate string of events that occurred here have caused some serious questions to be raised about this country's SAR organization- not the people; their professionalism and commitment is never in doubt- but the SAR operations, procedures, and material support.
Our Prime Minister has said “There is no possible way that in the vastness of the Canadian Arctic we could ever have all the resources close by." With recent federal budget cuts, those resources may be even farther away in the future.