B.C. dispatchers were surprised to see the call coming from the Polish Embassy in Ottawa before sending emergency responders to the scene where two mountaineers had been caught in an avalanche in the B.C. Rockies and survived.
Robson Valley Search and Rescue manager Dale Mason says the pair were climbing Whitehorn Mountain on Monday morning when they were hit by a wall of snow.
"They tumbled quite a ways down the mountain in the deposit. They ended up on the top of it, and they were able to call for help," he said.
But the survivors didn't call within B.C. — or even Canada. The Polish mountaineers used their satellite phone to call someone in their home country.
B.C. Emergency Health Services communications officer Shannon Miller said she can only guess why.
"They were probably in shock and so they just hit the phone and dialed Poland," she said.
Polish Embassy stayed in touch during rescue
The call was routed through the Polish Embassy in Canada, to B.C. before BCEHS could send an air ambulance and the Robson Valley SAR team could help rescue the pair from steep terrain.
"That we have a provincial service was key to getting all the quick co-ordination of our dispatch," said Miller, who adds that the Polish Embassy was kept informed throughout the rescue.
Several hours after their fall, the mountain climbers, whose names are not being released, were flown to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops with serious injuries