Search and Rescue
To initiate a search and rescue operation for any reason within the Yukon please contact your nearest R.C.M.P. detachment. They will have up-to-date information on how to best initiate a search in your area. Contact information for each detachment can be found at https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/detach/en/find/YT.
The Klondike Snowmobile Association does not offer any professional search and rescue services. However, we are happy to help where we can. If you feel we’d be a helpful addition to a search and rescue operation please contact us any time and we’ll do our best to assist.
If someone has left a trip plan with you and they have not checked in on time:
1: Start with a few deep and calming breaths. In most cases the missing party is perfectly fine and just got delayed by a stuck snowmobile or mechanical breakdown.
2: Try again to get in contact with them.
3: Try contacting anyone who may have seen them since they left.
4: If their latest expected arrival time has passed and contact cannot be established then call your nearest R.C.M.P. detachment to initiate a search. This service is available 24/7/365 and there is no minimum time for them to be missing.
If you are in a group needing rescue:
1: Take a moment to catch your breath and assess the situation. Airlines always tell you to put your own mask on first before assisting other people, the same principal applies here.
2. It’s usually better to stay together and stay close to where you are. Don’t leave the area unless you have a very good reason to.
3: Begin providing first aid as needed. If you have any extra people in your group consider delegating first aid management to one person and search and rescue arrangements to another person.
4: The person calling for a search and rescue should first gather some information that search and rescuers will need. Before they can come to you they will need to know where to go and what to bring, so have the following information ready:
– Your location. If you know where you are be as accurate as you can, if you are lost then just do your best to describe the area and how you got there.
– The nature of your emergency. Tell them what happened and how it happened.
– How many people are in your group, and how many of those will need to be rescued.
– How many people are injured, the types of injuries, and any first aid already being provided.
– What equipment and supplies you have with you.
– What assistance you will need.
5: To initiate a search and rescue operation for fastest response contact your nearest R.C.M.P. detachment if able. The next best option is to contact someone at home and have them contact the nearest R.C.M.P. detachment for you. If you are unable to do either of those then press the SOS button on your satellite device. If all of those fail then stay calm knowing the person you left a trip plan with should be starting a search when you don’t return on time.
6: While you wait for rescue start a fire, construct some shelter, and make your site visible from a distance. If able try making a safe space for the rescuers to arrive and work in. If you are in a group delegate at least one task to each non-injured person, as keeping busy will help them stay calm and keep warm.
7. If time allows, start planning for what to do after the rescue. In some cases not everyone in your group and not all of your sleds and gear will travel out with the rescue team, so consider how to get the rest home and what you may need for that journey.