In early August 2002, a 64-year-old prospector from Calgary was reported missing near Sinclair Mills east of Prince George. Late Saturday afternoon, Sudhir Jain became separated from the geological consultant he had brought with him to collect mineral samples on a property he owns with a group of other prospectors.
By the time 35 volunteers from Prince George Search and Rescue joined the RCMP dog teams scouring the bush in the Bear's Paw area on Monday, the mood was grim. They were looking for a seasoned hiker with little training in outdoor survival on steep terrain. The wind was blowing hard and it was pouring rain. Two cold nights had past and wet snow had been observed at the 5,000-foot altitude mark.
At about 10:45 p.m. on Monday night, Jain emerged from the woods onto Pass Lake Road, just a few kilometres from the search camp, suffering from mild hypothermia and extreme fatigue and hunger. Except for a few hours sleep each night under tree limbs to escape the heavy rain, he had kept moving for more than 18 hours each of the past two days. His dejected wife and daughters, leaving the search camp to drive back to Prince George, found him at the side of the road.
That was a happy outcome in what was a dismal summer for local search and rescue volunteers. Nicole Hoar had gone missing on June 21, last seen at a gas station on the western outskirts of Prince George. The same weekend Jain lost his way in the bush, 10-year-old Joseph Andrews disappeared while tubing on the Salmon River. The search for him lasted more than a week before it was called off.
To this day, neither Hoar nor Andrews have been found.
The extraordinary thing about these cases, both the happy and tragic outcomes, is the role volunteers play. Along with Prince George, there are 80 search and rescue groups across B.C., made up of men and women who train extensively and then drop everything at a moment's notice to help police locate missing individuals.
What's not so extraordinary are the hoops the provincial government make these organizations and their umbrella body, the B.C. Search and Rescue Association, do to receive funding. They are forced to fill out grant applications for gaming funds and to hold fundraisers, just like any other volunteer non-profit group, to pay for their training and equipment. In other words, they have to spend time and energy asking for money from the public and from the provincial government for the privilege of helping find and save people.
To be fair, the provincial government's Emergency Management B.C. kicks in about $3.7 million annually while local authorities contribute another $1 million. Gaming grants, however, make up $2.3 million and other fund raising accounts for $1.5 million. That means almost half of their operational income is self-generated, with no certainty that support will be there from year to year.
The search and rescue association would like the provincial government to provide a stable funding model, somewhere between $4.4 million and $9.2 million per year, with local governments kicking in another $2 million, so their future isn't so uncertain.
Prince George Search and Rescue applies for the $100,000 gaming grant maximum each year and has never received the full amount. There is no guarantee the group will receive any gaming revenue each time it applies.
What a way to treat a group of people that provide such an essential service in challenging and stressful situations.
Meanwhile, the number of call outs search and rescue groups receive has more than tripled in the last 25 years while funding has not come anywhere close to matching that increase.
From our perspective, and we're confident our colleagues at the other news media outlets would agree, Prince George Search and Rescue has always been great to deal with. They recognize the important role journalists play in raising awareness of missing individuals but also in showcasing the value of search and rescue work to the public.
