By Charlotte Morritt-Jacobs - (@morrittjacobs on Twitter)

Safety Technician Talks Mountain Safety – Post Weekend Rescue

Nov 17, 2016 | 1:42 PM

WATERTON – This year alone, Waterton Lakes National Park’s Visitor Safety Team has responded to 25 incidents, some of them minor such as a hiker with a sprained ankle and some of them not so minor, such as a scrambler who slipped on ice and fell down a crevasse near Castle Mountain Ski Resort.

Jonas Hoke, Waterton Lakes National Park visitor safety technician, who stayed overnight with the injured scrambler at Castle Mountain, credits continuous scenario based training as being paramount in the successful rescue.

“At the start of the winter I will be joining the team in Banff in some rope rescue scenarios in a vertical ice climbing environment. In house we frequently run avalanche rescue training scenarios.”

Hoke notes that many rescue technicians come to the position with a background in mountain travel, certification with the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and First Aid training.

Even after a successful rescue, crews train as teams over mandatory debriefing, discussing how a rescue could have been more efficient.

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Hoke says that while the unsung heroes do not always receive a lot of press, they do take pride in their work and strive to make the safety of everyone the top priority in all exercises.

“We do our best to access people as quick as possible and prevent undo suffering. In the recent Castle Mountain rescue, the way that we received the report, it didn’t sound like an immediate life threatening situation. The immediate pressure you can put on yourself wasn’t there so I took it step by step and planned appropriately to execute the mission.”

As with all first responders, Waterton Lakes Safety Team supports a strong bond and uses the rescue debriefs as a way of combating potential PTSD. For more traumatic incidents, technicians can also access critical stress debriefing made available through the RCMP.

Hoke told Lethbridge News Now that he hopes to continue to spread the message of preparedness in mountain activities to a wider audience.

“It is important before a trip to be well researched with both the terrain and the length and duration of the objective. It is also important to have an accurate weather forecast and be prepared to deal with the unexpected.”

Hoke suggests always traveling with a first aid kit and ensuring that everyone in the hiking group knows how to properly use equipment such as ropes, avalanche rescue gear and emergency shelters.

He further said that there will always be the individuals who get caught on overestimating their abilities.

“With modern communications technologies it is easier to get out the call for help and people are sometimes surprised at how long it takes for people to get out to them.”

Hoke says that after a report comes in and goes down the chain of command, rescue teams still have to piece together a plan and sometimes that plan can include not wrapping up a rescue until the next day.