Marine search and rescue volunteers from Port Alberni were busy on the water with a pair of assistance calls on Jan. 18–19.
The RCMSAR Station 39 vessel Alberni Responder headed down the Alberni Inlet on Wednesday, Jan. 18 to assist the Canadian Coast Guard from Bamfield in towing a broken down commercial fishing vessel into Port Alberni, coxswain Ian Arklie said.
The vessel and four volunteers met up with the other two vessels midway up the Inlet and took over the tow, bringing the stricken vessel into Fisherman’s Harbour to moor.
The team was called out again Thursday, Jan. 19, this time by Emergency Management BC, to assist BC Ambulance with picking up a patient with a broken leg in Bamfield. “The patient required transport to Port Alberni and it was felt that a transfer by water was most appropriate,” Arklie said.
The Alberni Responder crew and two paramedics left the dock in Port Alberni at 10:30 a.m. en route to the hospital dock in Bamfield to pick up the patient for transportation to West Coast General Hospital.
The Alberni Responder is being used more often to assist BC Ambulance with calls in the Bamfield area, Arklie said. “The Alberni Responder has continuously demonstrated that it is an ideal platform for search and rescue and medical evacuation needs within the Alberni Inlet.”
susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
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