They've seen it, they know it exists, but members of Coquitlam Search and Rescue can't quite lay hands on it.

For months, the search team has been waiting for a new rope and harness kit for its Helicopter External Transportation System (HETS) so it can perform helicopter rescues.

It was supposed to arrive in January, but the month passed with no kit.

February has come and gone, and still no kit.

The problem is the HETS equipment needs to be certified by Transport Canada.

"It's painfully slow dealing with that kind of bureaucracy," said Coquitlam SAR search manager Al Hurley.

But there could be some long-awaited good news for the team. Thanks to a little arm-twisting from the local MP, Transport Canada bumped the inspection to second in line.

Hurley is now hopeful the kit will be in the hands of the search team this week.

And if it arrives, it won't be a moment too soon as spring approaches. Hurley explained the equipment is not only important for those in need of rescue, but also the safety of the team.

"When we put members into rugged terrain with no chance of fast rescue, it compromises our safety protocols," he said.

It will still take a few weeks for the team to get retrained on the equipment before the new kit is put into service.

The search crew handles about five helicopter rope rescues a year.

The team's HETS was shelved last fall after a piece of rescue equipment was decertified by Transport Canada. The team was trained and ready to go by September and had a temporary rope and harness kit ready for action up until it got word from the federal agency to pull the plug.

A similar situation occurred last year when the North Shore Search and Rescue team went public about their wait for a rope rescue kit.

The team's kit received certification within a few days.

Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam MP James Moore, whose office placed a call to the ministry last week to get the certification moving, said bureaucracy should never stand in the way of public safety, and suggested any delay is "unacceptable."

"In the future, Transport Canada has to find a way to work with search and rescue organizations ahead of any decisions on equipment that is approved," Moore said. "There should never be any doubt about public safety."

Hurley said the organization never felt the old equipment was unsafe.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com