SAR crews used a drone to promptly guide a lost lone hiker out of the woods on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 19. (Arrowsmith SAR)

By Ian Holmes

Drone to the rescue

Game-changing drone guides lost hiker near Cameron Lake to safety

Oct 22, 2025 | 5:33 PM

WHISKEY CREEK — Fast-advancing drone technology is credited for the rapid rescue of a distressed hiker west of Whiskey Creek.

On Sunday Oct. 19 at around 6 p.m., Arrowsmith Search and Rescue president Nick Rivers received a call of a lost hiker off a logging road in the area of Arrowsmith CPR Regional Trail, off the south end of Cameron Lake.

Within a half hour, an industry-leading Matrice 350 RTK drone spotted and tracked the man in his 60’s, with the overhead device guiding the hiker about a kilometre out of the woods to safety at Highway 4.

A high-end Matrice 350 RTK drone was instrumental in quickly finding a lost hiker near Cameron Lake recently (submitted photo)

Rivers said “there is just no way” they’d previously have anything close to this this kind of response ability, stating the hiker was in good spirits and uninjured.

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“Now to be able to do that and prove it in action so quickly, it’s a complete game-changer to the way search and rescue works,” Rivers told NanaimoNewsNOW of the drone, which includes powerful spotlights.

Rivers said the all-weather drone valued at about $40,000 has a multitude of features tailored for finding people, including advanced zoom and thermal imagery capabilities, sending live video and multiple settings to the drone’s operator.

“A conventional ground search for this fellow the other day, I would anticipate probably would take three to four hours to locate and by that time hypothermia would have set in, it probably would have been a stretcher to carry him out.”

Drone operators receive real-time updates on information collected from the device. (Arrowsmith SAR)

Rivers notes a third-party provider integrates into Arrowsmith SAR’s mapping network, providing pinpoint locations of distressed subjects, as well as real-time updates their entire team has access to.

“Being able to locate subjects and have it connected right into our mapping system, it’s just second to none. We’re so excited to be able to have these quick responses and happy endings coming out of these operations.”

Rivers said their new drone, in their possession since the summer, has been used successfully by SAR organizations throughout Vancouver Island.

He said the device is the most valued one in the industry on the Island.

Seasonal advice

Pointing to rapidly changing weather conditions, Rivers said current daytime temperatures can be appealing, however evening and overnight conditions can be dangerously frigid.

He said dark skies and bone-chilling cold conditions can set in quickly.

“We’ve had people with hypothermia in July and if you take that to now with the cold and dampness in the evening, it can set in super-fast,” Rivers advised.

He said it’s imperative for outdoor enthusiasts to have a trip plan and stick to it, inform other people of your plan, have suitable clothing and gear, as well as ample supplies.

Detailed trip-planning advice and tips for outdoor excursions in the province are available from AdventureSmart.

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