Rescuers in BC have helped find a teenager who survived the rubble of the Venezuela earthquake

A Canadian search and rescue team has helped find a young survivor trapped in the rubble of an earthquake in Venezuela, where the official death toll has risen to 3,000. More than 16,000 people have been left homeless.

Tens of thousands of local and international aid workers are continuing search and rescue efforts. Among them were seven members of Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue and two search dogs, who spent four days searching for survivors in some of the worst affected areas in the country.

In an interview with Global News after returning home, Ryan Berry, president of Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue, described the damage his team saw.

“If I could describe it in one word, I would say it’s very painful,” said Berry. “We were in areas where entire blocks collapsed. Anywhere from the ground floor to the top of the building completely collapsed. It’s very painful.”

The Burnaby-based team is used as a simple urban search and rescue unit, allowing members to reach the scene of a disaster quickly.

Transport division director Shawn Mohammed said quick response is one of the group’s biggest strengths.

“Light compared to the medium to heavy groups gives us the power to work to quickly enter the country,” said Mohammed. “In those first 48 to 36 hours, it’s important to get someone in the country to start understanding where the needs are.”

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Working in the scorching heat, the team searched the collapsed buildings for signs of life using special search methods.

“We start with our drone, and then our canine teams get on board,” Berry said. “Our canine team is trained in live and dead indicators, so they can distinguish between the two.”

Some of these searches led to success.

“Both of our K9 units, separately, both showed a live hit,” Berry said. “From there, we deployed our DELSAR, which is an acoustic listening device.”

The team later found out that the little boy was rescued alive.

Despite the successful rescue, Berry said it was difficult to celebrate the life saved while surrounded by so much loss.

“But when you are in that situation and you work in places where family members are digging with their hands trying to find their loved ones, there is a limited sense of celebration,” he said.

Many Venezuelans have questioned their government’s response, citing delays in aid supplies and a lack of heavy equipment to clear the debris.

Mohammed said responding to a disaster of that scale requires flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

“We’re getting very crafty in our travel and finding ways to connect with people,” he said. “If there is work to be done, we don’t shut down, we keep moving.”

Although the Burnaby deployment has come to an end, Mohammed said the Venezuelan people are still on the team’s mind.

“I know that our time in Venezuela is short, but our hearts and thoughts are with the people of Venezuela,” said Mohammed. “There is still a long way to go.”

Scenes from Venezuela from the Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue Team. Courtesy of the Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue team.

While Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue has returned home, Canada’s humanitarian response continues. Speaking to Global News before being sent to Venezuela, the leader of the Canadian Medical Assistance Team, Jackson Raoul, said that his team’s goal is to help reduce the pressure on hospitals treating people affected by the earthquake.

“Our mission, our mission, is to establish a Type 1 emergency medical team,” Raoul said. “We will provide primary and emergency care integrated with a local hospital in the Caracas region of Venezuela.”

The team will provide outpatient care to patients who do not require hospitalization, helping local hospitals focus on more serious cases.