Here's what the new president of Coquitlam Search and Rescue will prioritize
Coquitlam Search and Rescue will soon be recruiting new members, which is just one of the many priorities of newly elected president Helena Michelis.
Michelis, elected to the position last week, will be heading up the volunteer-run organization for the next three years.
“Search and rescue all over (the province) is seeing a huge influx of calls,” Michelis said.
In her professional life she works in building automation and controls, and has been volunteering with the organization for eight years. The 50-person team she is now managing is receiving twice as many search and rescue calls as it was two years ago, before the pandemic. And there are two big parks in its service area that will either be expanding or opening up in the coming years, B.C. Parks’ Pinecone Burke Provincial Park and Metro Vancouver’s Widgeon Marsh Regional Park.
“Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, I think they're really hitting the gas on their development plan, just because of the demand on the other parks around … (with) the growth of outdoor recreation,” she said.
“And then also, Metro Vancouver has got a development plan in place ... for the Widgeon Marsh Regional Park, which again is going to really open up a whole lot more backcountry, which hasn't been accessible in the past.”
But the increase in calls and the increase in backcountry access doesn’t mean the team will be growing. The recruitment process, the dates for which haven’t yet been finalized, will be necessary because several team members will soon be retiring.
To meet the growing demand of search and rescue calls, the organization will focus on more training for its existing members, procuring more equipment, and increasing the organization’s efficiencies. That, she said, means not sending more people than necessary to respond to calls.
“(Our neighbours at) North Shore Rescue (are) a great example where you know, if a call only needs two people they only send two people,” she said.
But an organization like Coquitlam Search and Rescue, which gets fewer calls, will sometimes send a couple more people than absolutely necessary, she said, in order to keep the volunteers engaged and their skills sharp.
“Us, we need to have that fine balance, we want to keep people engaged,” she said.
Michelis, a mother to a 19 and 20-year-old, is the first woman to head up the 50-year-old organization. And while she knows that it may be encouraging for other women working in search and rescue to see, it isn’t something she likes drawing attention to.
“I guess because I've always worked in a male-dominated field in my professional life, I don't really think about it too much,” she said.
“I don't really regard it as an issue or an advantage or anything like that. I have lots of support from the senior members.”
Earlier this year, the organization made a public call for help finding a storage space for a new search and rescue boat. Michelis says they’ve had a few offers, and they’re working on narrowing down their options. But she’s also dreaming of a larger, centralized space where everything can be stored together.
“Obviously the real estate climate in the Lower Mainland is not conducive to somebody just handing you, you know, three quarters of an acre and saying, ‘Go have fun," she said.
“As a non-profit, we're not capable of going out to the market to actually purchase a piece of land like that or a building so at this point we’re considering our options and putting out the feelers … that's like a long term goal for us in the next five to 10 years to have our own building that has enough space to house all this equipment, that we can train in freely without having to book spaces and, you know, put up our plaques and awards.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
B.C. judge orders shared dog custody for exes who both 'clearly love Stella'
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a B.C. judge has awarded a former couple joint custody of their dog.
Saskatoon police to search landfill for remains of woman missing since 2020
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.