Penticton Search and Rescue crews kept busy with two rescues

PENTICTON – Penticton Search and Rescue crews were called to two separate rescues yesterday afternoon.

Shortly after 3 p.m. yesterday, July 2, the rescue unit was called to the aid of a man who tumbled down an embankment at Yellow Lake on Highway 3A, according to a Penticton Search and Rescue media release.

Nine members responded along with B.C. Ambulance paramedics to the scene, where it was discovered the man had sustained a number of injuries to his upper body.

A rope rescue team was used to bring the man up the embankment to an air ambulance that was waiting on the highway. Further evaluation of the man’s condition indicated he had serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Highway 3A was closed for approximately a half-hour while the rescue was being conducted.

The rescue volunteers were dispatched once more around 7:30 p.m. after a call was received of a man in his early 20s suffering numerous injuries while mountain biking on Campbell Mountain.

Search and Rescue spokesperson Randy Brown says in a release the helicopter evacuation unit was called in along with ground members who used rescue trucks and side by side units to access the incident site.

An evaluation of the injured biker’s condition revealed non-life threatening injuries. Rescue crews were able to extricate the injured man using ground transportation.

The helicopter was stood down while the patient was transported to Penticton Regional Hospital.

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