When the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic hit, many people started making sourdough bread and “doom scrolling” for pandemic updates. Author Cathalynn Labonté-Smith started writing Rescue Me: Behind the Scenes of Search and Rescue. Her husband had just started training as a search and rescue member on the Sunshine Coast, and they had started watching Search and Rescue: North Shore.
“I started thinking this would make a great book,” said Labonté-Smith. “I started researching to see if anyone had written a book like this, and the answer I found was, ‘no.’”
Labonté-Smith began interviewing more than 68 search and rescue members from across North America, and documenting their stories. The Gibsons-based author will be at Powell River Public Library on Saturday, February 18, to talk about the many exciting and harrowing stories told by search and rescue members.
“The book covers a lot of ground including: cave, ocean, mountain and desert rescue missions, all carried out by volunteer search and rescue teams, along with their stories of survival and heartache,” said Labonté-Smith. “The book has a strong British Columbia focus, and at my book readings, I usually like to start off with a current search and rescue story that may have recently happened.”
For example, in the autumn of last year some outdoor enthusiasts in the qathet region accidentally ate poison mushrooms. They had to be emergency evacuated out of the area by Powell River Search and Rescue members.
Her stories focus on survivors, the courageous search and rescue teams, and those who unfortunately perished.
“There are so many incredible people involved, who have dedicated thousands of hours of their time; including doctors, nurses, firefighters, all who love the outdoors and have a drive to help others in need,” said Labonté-Smith.
Some highlights include stories familiar to those living in BC, and a wake-up call for everyone. One trope goes like this: An unsuspecting hiker starts off on a day trek; unprepared for the elements, weather changes quickly, bad things follow. In 2017 a Coquitlam dog walker went out to walk her dogs, on a wet day, fell and hurt her leg; she huddled with her three dogs, underdressed in the pouring rain. A search and rescue team searched for three days and nights until finally they found her, thankfully, alive.
One tragic story that stands out for the author was when two snowshoers became lost on Mt. Seymour in North Shore Mountains in 2019.
“Two friends went out on a day trip snowshoeing,” said Labonté-Smith. “They quickly found themselves disoriented and thought they were at the summit.”
The RCMP report stated that visibility was so bad it took 54 rescuers, three helicopters and a longline extraction to reach the snowshoers; only one was found alive.
A Powell River Search and Rescue mission took place in 2021, for a missing skateboarder who was 33 years old at the time, and had last been seen in Lang Bay at 10:30 in the evening. He didn’t show up to work the next day. After extensive search and rescue efforts, the case turned cold, but in March of 2022, his remains were found.
Labonté-Smith said there is a science of lost behaviour.
“There are some simple things you can do to help yourself, if you are going out into the wilderness, even if it is a local mountain.” she added. “Don’t go alone, plan for the weather, leave a note, stick to one path.”
Labonté-Smith’s book was recently added to the Association of Book Publishers of BC, Best Seller 2023 list. An author talk discussing, Rescue Me: Behind the Scenes of Search and Rescue, begins at 2 pm, February 18, at the library.
