Nanaimo Search and Rescue will be doing training exercises on Mt. Benson overnight Saturday, Jan. 27. (NSAR Facebook page)

By Jordan Davidson

night training

‘Uncomfortable but not unsafe:’ Nanaimo Search and Rescue overnight training sessions on Mt. Benson

Jan 27, 2024 | 6:57 AM

NANAIMO — Residents in Nanaimo and the surrounding area might see lights flickering off Mt. Benson overnight Saturday, all part of Nanaimo Search and Rescue’s (NSAR) training exercise.

NSAR will be conducting a 24-hour training exercise on Mt. Benson overnight starting around 8 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27 until around 9 a.m. the following morning.

NSAR president Carly Trobridge said they have three new members in training completing the required Justice Institute of B.C. Ground Search and Rescue course, with their final practical including an overnight stay on Mt. Benson.

“(A) simulated search throughout the day, they have different coordinates they need to navigate to strictly using map and compass, and they reach those coordinates and there is specific skill stations set up just testing them on the content of the Ground Search and Rescue course.”

Trobridge said members in training will need to build an overnight shelter using only items from their 24-hour SAR packs.

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Those packs include items like tarps, first-aid kit, and saws, along with whatever the members can carry, like a change of clothes, so “they should be uncomfortable but not unsafe overnight,”, according to Trobridge.

She said the training is also designed so members can feel what it’s like to be stranded.

“They’re on their own, they don’t really have a lot of equipment, they don’t have a tent or sleeping bag for example in most cases, so it also gives our candidates a little bit of a glimpse into what being lost and stuck outside overnight is really like.”

Trobridge said their command vehicle will be set up on the back side of Mt. Benson, with their regular members deployed in full force around Mt. Benson on foot throughout the day.

“If people in Nanaimo and the surrounding area see fires or lights on Mt. Benson overnight, it is absolutely safe, it’s just our members out completing their training. No need to alert the authorities.”

(NSAR Facebook page)

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow