Two local volunteers have been spotlighted by the Prince George Search and Rescue Association for exemplifying the spirit of lifesaving as part of Emergency Preparedness Week in Canada.
Neil (Swede) Peterson and Art Eickmeyer have invested decades in saving lives, with almost 70 years of combined experience.
According to association president Jeff Smedley, Eickmeyer started his searching and rescuing in 1979 in Terrace, when a friend brought him along to an introductory event. He moved to Kamloops next and deepened his experience there. By the time he moved to Prince George in 1990, he was already a veteran and specialized in training new SAR volunteers.
"Night after night, Art made sure there was someone here to teach," Smedley said. "Map and compass has been his passion. Art's knowledge and experience has helped to shape our training program to what it is today. Art's compass course is one of the highest liked practical components by our new members."
Eickmeyer was also the northern region's SAR advisor to the Provincial Emergency Program and attended SAR conferences as far away as the United States on the local area's behalf.
Peterson's specialty was human-tracking, a field of study for him since 1976.
Smedley said he witnessed on more than one occasion Peterson declare that the current direction of search was incorrect. Despite advice to the contrary, he had a rare skill for finding hard evidence pointing the other way.
Peterson was also willing and eager to teach the skills of spotting subtle clues of human presence on the landscape.
"It didn't matter who you were, Swede could open your eyes to the ground in front of you," Smedley said. "The tracks would tell a story about how people moved across the ground. Swede was the one that help many of us to be able to read that story."
Together, their dedication helped save lives and inspire other lifesavers to do the same.
Others following in the footsteps of Eickmeyer and Peterson are busy this time of year training for a variety of scenarios.
"We are done with avalanche and ice training, and we are getting into more swiftwater preparedness," he said. "Something that is not out there for us, in terms of available training, is when a vehicle is in the water and we have a person inside. That is an issue. It is something we know we could encounter, so we are trying to learn what we can about those scenarios. We want to train for that, but we need to research how to obtain that training."
Anyone venturing out into the backcountry or boating on area rivers is asked to check forecasts in advance, bring the proper clothing and self-sustaining provisions for an unexpected night outside, and provide a description to people back at home about where you will be and what you will be doing.
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