PENTICTON – A week-long search in the South Okanagan ended on a positive note Sunday, but Penticton Search and Rescue crews were quickly put to work helping with emergencies in other parts of the region.

Search and rescue spokesperson Randy Brown says the search for two lost Ontario hikers had no sooner ended in the Similkameen Valley Sunday afternoon when Penticton Search and Rescue teams were tasked out on two more emergency calls.

The first was for the helicopter rescue team to aid Sicamous emergency crews in rescuing a crashed paraglider. The Penticton helicopter team was stood down before heading out after Sicamous emergency teams were able to extricate the paraglider on their own.

Not long after another call came through for a medical evacuation. Crews were asked to assist Central Okanagan Search and Rescue in the Little White Mountain area around 5:15 p.m. The helicopter evacuation team retrieved a man from a group of hikers in the area who appeared to be suffering from heat exhaustion. The man was transferred to a waiting ambulance and taken to hospital.

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