GADSAR Today

The Golden and District Search and Rescue Association operates out of the Town of Golden, British Columbia with a base of operations located at 1100 12th Street South. The building is owned by BC Hydro and was previously used as a garage and offices for their linesmen crews. Expenses for this base of operations have been generously taken care of by the Town of Golden and further subsidized by BC Hydro.

GADSAR Base of Operaions

The Golden and District Search and Rescue Association is structured according to the parameters set out in the Society Act 1984. Our organization follows a set of approved by-laws for all activities that we partake in and is governed by a group of 8 executive members. The executive is elected on an annual basis and meets at the beginning of every month in fulfilling their duties as the association’s governing body.

Our association has three purposes as are set out in Section 2 of the society’s constitution and are as follows:

2(a) To assist the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and/or any other police authority in the locating and evacuation of lost and/or injured persons,

2(b) To maintain an adequately trained and equipped membership to fulfill clause 2(a) in a safe and efficient manner,

2(c) To raise such funds as necessary to fulfill clause 2(b).

Under these directives GADSAR members are able to perform a wide variety of highly specialized search and rescue related operations within our operational area. This area includes all areas north to the Banff National Park boundary, all areas east to the Yoho National Park boundary, all areas south towards the town of Spillimacheen and all areas west to the Glacier National Park boundary. This area holds true for most of the search and rescue operations that we perform except in the case of auto-extrication where we extend into Glacier National Park to the Roger’s Pass Summit and into Yoho National Park to the town of Field. In addition we assist other agencies such as Parks Canada and other provincial search and rescue organizations in a variety of search and rescue operations outside of our normal operational area.

GADSAR Operational Area (large map)

The Golden and District Search and Rescue Association currently has a membership of 34 volunteers who stem from a wide variety of backgrounds. It is these volunteers and their dedication to the organization that truly makes GADSAR one of the top search and rescue organizations in the province. Members meet once a week for in-house training and when time and funding permits, more formalized training is offered in any one of our operational disciplines.

GADSAR members are on standby 24-hours/day for the entire search and rescue services that the organization has committed to providing in its operational area. In the event of a call-out, GADSAR managers ensure that there is always adequate coverage should another incident occur. This is often the case with motor vehicle accidents (MVA’s) during peak periods of the year or during inclement weather.

Call-outs are usually initiated by the local detachment of the RCMP who contacts GADSAR members, by means of digital pagers, through the Cranbrook RCMP dispatch. Members are briefed though the paging system by the RCMP dispatch regarding the operation to be carried out. Volunteers then report to the GADSAR base of operations in Golden where further briefing occurs and resources are deployed. It is important that our members are properly equipped to respond in the most efficient manner possible, as valuable time can be lost at the outset of an operation.

During an operation a call is placed to the British Columbia Provincial Emergency Program duty officer in Victoria to obtain a task number, which is used for reimbursement of operational expenses and equipment that is damaged while out on tasks. This is the only type of funding that is received from the provincial government for the operation of our organization. Additionally, small portions of our operational expenses have been donated by the Golden municipal government and from private organizations such as BC Hydro. The remainder of our annual operating budget, funds for training GADSAR members, and funding for capital expenditures, are all derived from private donations and fundraising activities. Our organization relies heavily on sponsorship from private individuals, service clubs, local businesses and corporations. A detailed list of donations made to the Golden and District Search and Rescue Association over the past 5 years has been included in this document as Appendix A.

Golden and District Search and Rescue has a number of resources that have been acquired through donations and fundraising efforts over the many years of operation Some of the resources include: a 1979 Chevrolet Suburban (used for water response & member transportation during operations & training); a 1995 Ford F-350 crew cab (currently used for highway response); a 1997 Ford F-350 crew cab (used for backcountry response); a 14ft rigid hull inflatable jet boat (used for water rescue); and a full gamut of technical gear for undertaking every aspect of the types of operations that we are currently responsible for.

1997 Ford F-350 (photo gallery)

However, the most valuable resource GADSAR has is its members who not only dedicate their time but also are often expected to use personal equipment during operational tasks and training exercises. GADSAR volunteers take this dedication to the organization one step further by donating all of their entitled personal claims back to the organization on an annual basis, a tradition members have been following in spirit since GADSAR was incorporated in 1985. With our current average annual call-out volume, personal claims entitled to the GADSAR membership are in the vicinity of $50,000 per year.

GADSAR Members

During our 2004 fiscal year, GADSAR members attended 71 tasks resulting in 2,708 volunteer hours. Below, Table 2-1 summarizes these call-outs and their associated volunteer hours based on the types of rescue services that were provided. Since taking on road rescue services in 2001, the values recorded below are now more or less typical for our rescue organization. These extremely high call-out volumes make GADSAR one of the busiest volunteer rescue organizations in the province.

All of the hours put into operational activities by our members are on a strictly volunteer basis. If compared to a professional rescuer making $ 30.00 per hour, it could be stated that our rescuers are donating an additional $ 81,240.00 per year to the operation of our organization. This figure does not include the thousands of training and administrative hours that our members provide each year to ensure a well-trained crew and the efficient operation of our rescue organization. Once again the dedication of our volunteer members is what truly makes up the backbone of the Golden and District Search and Rescue Association.