Skills gained from training in Squamish's rugged terrain will be used to battle the world's toughest disasters.
For the past month, Abu Dhabi Police Rescue and Diving team members endured training drills in the Sea to Sky Corridor. On Thursday, July 11, the elite international rescue team huddled around long desks in Squamish's Fire Hall 1, pouring over plans to deal with a mock flash flood scenario.
Now the bridge has gone, trainer Craig Gerrard said, his computer projecting a picture of a crumpled roadway.
In 2009, the United Arab Emirates search and rescue crew became the first Middle East organization to join the United Nation's International Search and Rescue Advisory Group. Since then, Captain Mohammed Hassan Al Hosani has been deployed in the epicenter of the world's biggest disasters from earthquakes and floods in Pakistan to the 2006 tsunami that devastated Indonesia.
When asked through a translator what was the most challenging task Al Hosani's dealt with, his answer came quickly.
He saw a school that had collapsed on children, he said in Arabic.
The world's changing weather patterns led to the team's need to practice responding to floods, Walter Bucher, Raven Rescue's executive director, said. The technical rescue training company brings 1,500 people through Squamish in its various programs. The area's fast flowing rivers and cliffs enable participants to practice for various unusual weather events, he noted.
The Abu Dhabi officers braved Mamquam River's cold waters in a series of swiftwater rescue drills. They also were given advance rappelling lessons. The trip marked Al Hosani's first time in Canada. Between training the team visited Whistler and tried their hand at ATVing and horseback riding. Al Hosani thanked the Canadian government and training company for their part in making the trip viable. Squamish is a nice, quiet place, but best of all is its weather, Al Hosani said.It's almost like [our] winter, he noted, adding at home the air is a sizzling 50 degrees Celsius.
See them in action -
