Dog Handler Cpl. Colin Pyne and Police Service Dog Soap of the Battlefords RCMP were instrumental in saving the life of a suspect earlier this month, says a release from F Division.
Cst. Michael Page of Onion Lake RCMP, Cpl. Pyne and PSD Soap spent two and a half hours searching for a missing suspect, walking more than 12 kilometres in the snow and woods.
The date of the event was Dec. 3. RCMP F Division reports that at 6:05 p.m., Onion Lake RCMP officers stopped a stolen vehicle on Highway 797 near Onion Lake Cree Nation. Three occupants of the vehicle were arrested and placed in police vehicles, but the driver had left the car and run north into a snow-covered field. The driver was lightly dressed and the temperature was -8 C.
The release states that within 10 minutes of the vehicle’s stop, Cpl. Pyne and Soap arrived at the scene and joined Onion Lake officer Cst. Page in the search for the driver of the vehicle. They followed fresh foot tracks through snow-covered fields and thick bushes.
At approximately 8:15 p.m., they found the driver in the woods north of Highway 797 and west of Boundary Road. While RCMP were escorting him back, says the release, the driver collapsed, face first in the snow. The officers picked him up, wiped the snow off his body, zipped his jacket up and, holding him, continually talked to him and encouraged him to carry on walking to avoid hypothermia.
They also requested Emergency Medical Services to meet them on Highway 797.
When they reached the highway, the officers immediately placed the driver in the back of a police vehicle, took off his wet, snow-covered shoes and jacket and placed an emergency blanket over him while waiting for EMS to arrive.
When Onion Lake EMS arrived, Cst. Page accompanied the driver in the ambulance where the driver was treated for low blood sugar and hypothermia.
The RCMP release states the paramedics estimated the driver was five to 10 minutes away from going into a diabetic coma. Had he not been found, the driver would have died of exposure to the elements, says the release.
The driver of the vehicle is facing various charges.
