Quick work by Penticton Search and Rescue to pluck injured snowmobiler from Apex

PENTICTON – An injured snowmobiler near Apex last night can count himself twice lucky.

First, an off-duty paramedic happened to be nearby to help, then a well-trained Penticton Search and Rescue team was able to quickly mobilize and extract the snowmobiler before dark, Penticton Search and Rescue manager Ron Muir says.

"Recognizing that there was limited remaining daylight to fly and perform the rescue, pilot Derek Robinson at Eclipse Helicopters did an extraordinary job prepping the helicopter for a hasty extraction with the (search and rescue helicopter extraction team)," Muir says in a release. "We were on scene with the subject within 50 minutes and the entire rescue was completed, with the subject brought down via helicopter and transferred to a waiting ambulance at the airport in less than (an hour and a half) from initial callout."

The call came in around 6:15 p.m, the second time in a week the helicopter rescue team was called out. Muir says 17 members responded to the callout

No word on the condition of the patient.

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