Squamish Search and Rescue ‘intimately’ affected by death of 22-year-old mountain biker
Posted October 4, 2019 10:11 pm.
Last Updated October 4, 2019 10:38 pm.
SQUAMISH (NEWS 1130) — The death of national ski cross team member Mikayla Martin in a mountain biking accident in Squamish on Tuesday has caused ripples of grief.
In addition to family, the people on the volunteer crew who tried to rescue the 22-year-old have been left reeling.
“Mikayla was well-known to a number of members of our team. Some of them were very close to her and some of those members were intimately involved with the rescue,” says Tyler Duncan with Squamish Search and Rescue. “Mikayla suffered a traumatic arrest which is where the actual trauma of the injury stops your heart. Her riding partner attempted to resuscitate her with CPR until we arrived.”
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Martin’s death comes at the end of a particularly tough season for the volunteer rescue crew, who have responded to three fatal accidents since June. Duncan says each death has rocked the close-knit community of bikers and climbers.
He explains every rescue is followed by a debrief, and the process is critical to team members trying to cope with responding to a fatal accident.
“Everybody sits down and talks through the call. It’s a free, safe, open space where you can talk about what happened during the call, your feelings around it, any concerns or questions that you might have,” Duncan says.
Beyond the immediate debrief, counselling is available and crews are warned of what they can expect in the wake of trauma–including nightmares, mood-changes, and difficulty sleeping.
Duncan says the attempted rescue was physically as well as emotionally challenging. They deployed a helicopter and ground crews as quickly as possible but the remote, rough nature of the terrain they had to navigate meant it took them over an hour to get to where Martin had been injured.
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Duncan says people who venture out onto trails and paths that aren’t easily accessible need to understand rescue crews will face challenges when they are called in.
“If it took you three hours to get there it likely could take us three hours to get there as well.”
