Members of Cochrane Search and Rescue (CSAR) closed out 2021 with more than six thousand hours of volunteer time.

The volunteer group, which works closely with the Cochrane RCMP, also assists the neighbouring RCMP detachments of Canmore, Banff and Kananaskis and they provide response services to Kananaskis Public Safety (KPS), Parks Public Safety, Cochrane Fire Services and the RCMP Major Crimes Unit.

In their ongoing efforts to improve search and rescue capabilities the group trains year long to ensure they're always on top of their game and ready to deploy at any given time. 

They recently released their stats for last year and here's the breakdown:

  • Total Activities: 167
  • Activity Hours: 1,283
  • Incidents: 17
  • Incident Hours: 92
  • Exercises: 66
  • Exercise Hours: 208
  • Events: 84
  • Event Hours: 982
  • Total volunteered hours: 6047 Hours

You can often see the CSAR team on the local pathways and various other areas throughout town conducting mock searches in various search patterns. 

While CSAR is mostly kept busy with ground searches they also have K9, ATV, Man Tracking and Bike sections in place.