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$3 Siege

Informer

Roe sitting around the record
player belting out the lyrics to
“Picnic Time for Teddy Bears”? Well, if
you do, you’re at least 25-years-old,
and whether you knew it or not, you
were having your first lesson in woods
safety. “You’d better not go alone,” the
singer sang. And Dave Brewer,
Capilano College’s director of Supply
and Services, adds to that, “If you got
lost today, would anybody know?” He
also says that the single most important
piece of advice he can lend to outdoor
travellers is to “be prepared.”

Sound familiar? If you were ever a
member of the Girl Guides or Boy
Scouts, this would be second nature.
“Be prepared” is their motto. The
demanding Baden Powell trail that
extends the distance from Deep Cove
to Horseshoe Bay (also the region
covered by the North Shore Rescue
Team), was named after Lord Baden
Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts.
Smart guy. Like Dave.

Dave can be called an expert on
outdoor safety because this is his 30th
year as a member of the North Shore
Rescue Team. He’s been there for
happy endings and sad. And, he says, it
can sometimes be a frustrating
experience.

“When people are first found, they
are very grateful and gracious,” he
explains. “Then, when the evacuation
process begins, a change in attitude
takes over. They begin to feel safe and
their confidence grows. By the time
they reach safety and see familiar
landmarks, such as a parking lot or ski
lift, they often feel that they had the
ability to survive their situation without
our assistance and that they were not in
peril. The seriousness of their situation
and the fear seems to wear off.”

But it’s not all without its perks.
After all, a person doesn’t stick with
something for 30 years without getting
a great deal of gratification from it.

“T’ll never forget a letter I got from
someone who had been rescued,” says
Dave, who was born on the North
Shore. “Just having someone say
‘thanks very much for helping me out’
makes it all worthwhile.”

Judging by the increase in search
and rescue incidents in British

Dave Brewer

On Call With
Capilano

College’s
Dave Brewer

Columbia over the past three years,
there should be a lot of grateful people
out there. On the North Shore alone, the
number of rescues has risen from 25 in
1992, to 36 in 1993, to 61 in 1994.
Province-wide in 1994, there were 567
search and rescues. Out of the 816
people reported missing in those
incidents, 739 were located alive and 49
were found dead. Twenty-eight have not
been located.

These are eye-opening facts. Our
local mountains are so easily accessible
that hikers frequently forget that they
can also be dangerous.

“So often,” Dave says, “people j jump
into their car dressed in a t-shirt and
shorts and drive to an outdoor
destination. Once there, they travel into
a wooded area unprepared for what
might lie ahead. This is a common
mistake. Just because you can see the
mountains from a safe position, doesn’t
mean that you should not respect them
or acknowledge that danger exists.”

Publisher of a book on search and
rescue, coordinator for the Ministry of
the Attorney General’s Provincial
Search and Rescue (SAR) Emergency
Program, and chair of the SAR
Advisory Committee for the province
of B.C., are just a few of the pastimes
that keep this father of three busy.

“The advisory committee is doing a
lot of important work that has been
utilized across the country, developing
public awareness for travelling safely in
the outdoors.”

He joined the College in 1976 as a
purchasing agent, intending to stay for
only a few years.

“The job grew and with it, great
people and great opportunities
presented themselves,” Dave says,
adding, “and 19 years later, I’m still
here.” A far cry from Safari Land, a
business Dave ran with a partner in the
mid-’60s.

“We operated a walkthrough live and
mounted wildlife show that included a
lion named Simba, a cheetah, and an
arctic owl.”

His sons, 26-year old twins Scott and
Alan, and Brad, 32, have had no
inclination to follow in their father’s
rescuing footsteps. “They saw too
many nights where we had things
planned -- and then the pager would go
off, signalling that I was needed
elsewhere.”

It’s as if Dave has been on call for
the North Shore community ever since
he first answered a newspaper ad 30
years ago for “young men to assist the
community in civil defence.” This, he
said, had more to do with civil disaster
and was the forerunner of the North
Shore Rescue Team. Most recently, he
was appointed Food Services director
for the B.C. Winter Games, which are
being held on the North Shore in
February 1996.

“T have wonderful people working
with me and we all share the same
vision of excellence and of making
these Games as exciting as they can
be.” O

Editor’s note: See next page for 10
outdoor tips from Dave.