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AIR SAR

CASARA joins Canadian Forces SAR squadrons
in SAREX 2002

by Major Grant MacDonald, Canadian Forces

For the first time ever, Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) members formally participated in the National SAREX 2002 search event held in Gimli, Manitoba, in September. Teams from all five Canadian Forces primary SAR Squadrons, plus a sixth composite team from the three Combat Support Squadrons were joined by six CASARA teams. The five-day exercise tested skills in parachuting, aeronautical, emergency medical diagnosis and treatment within a competitive framework designed to foster camaraderie and team-building.

Each of the CASARA teams was paired with a Canadian Forces team and assigned the task of dividing and thoroughly searching an area within a specified timeframe. This realistic approach not only reflected the normal interaction that would take place between various search resources during a major aeronautical SAR operation, but also demanded a high degree of cooperation and trust. Canadian Forces 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron, CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia, paired with the CASARA team of Zone 3, Swan River, won the event.

The winning team of the SAREX 2002 search event: 413 Squadron and their CASARA teammates from Zone 3, Swan River, Manitoba (including a spotter from Newfoundland on vacation in Gimli)

Winners of other events included

Maintenance Event
8 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 8 Wing, CFB Trenton (in support of 424 Squadron)

Search Event, Medical Event and Team Spirit Event
413 Transport and Rescue Squadron, CFB Greenwood

Rescue Event
Composite team of 417, 439 and 444 Combat Support Squadrons

Team Parachuting Competition
103 Rescue Squadron, CFB Gander

Individual Parachuting Award
Master Corporal Dave Cooper

Arctic SAREX 2002

Three nations respond to mock air disaster

Following the four-day National SAREX, contingents from the Russian Air Force and the Alaska Air National Guard joined Canadian Forces teams in Gimli for Arctic SAREX 2002, an exercise in coordinated major air disaster response.

A simulated crash site was established eight kilometres north of Gimli with mock airliner wreckage and some 50 CASARA volunteers acting as casualties. Although low ceilings precluded parachuting to the site, teams of six para-rescue specialists from each nation arrived in late afternoon by Labrador, Griffon and Cormorant helicopters to tend to the injured.

Several hours later, an Alaska Air Guard HC 130 circled overhead acting as the On-Scene Coordinator. A Hercules aircraft from 8 Wing CFB Trenton dropped one of Canada's four Major Air Disaster (MAJAID) kits, along with six members of the Canadian Parachute Centre (CPC) who swiftly unpacked the MAJAID kit and erected two 42-person arctic tents, complete with forced-air heating and electric lighting. Casualties were moved into the shelter, given hot food and beverages and made comfortable for the night.

Canadian Forces SARtechs and a Russian Air Force doctor prepare to move a casualty

Just after dawn the next day, a Cormorant arrived, the first of the evacuation helicopters. The casualties and their rescuers were transported to a World War II hangar at Gimli airport, currently used by Air Cadets for gliders, where Canadian Forces medical staff had set up a Forward Base Medical Area to assess and treat casualties.

The exercise was a success in demonstrating the effective integration of the tri-national para-rescue team at the incident site. The exercise included a trial in the use of coloured vests to identify key appointments at the site. As well, the exercise succeeded in demonstrating an improved flow of injured persons through the triage station.

The next Arctic SAREX will be held in Russia in the fall of 2003.

Cormorant flies first mission

Less than a week after going into operational service at 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, 19 Wing Comox, Canada's newest military rescue helicopter, the CH-149 Cormorant, successfully flew its first rescue mission.

On July 28th, 442 Squadron's Cormorant crew responded to a distress call to rescue an injured Filipino sailor from the deck of a ship. Upon arriving on the scene the SARtech team rode the Cormorant's hoist down to the ship where they stabilized the patient and moved him onto a metal stretcher for hoisting. The hovering Cormorant effortlessly plucked the sailor from the deck and whinched him aboard. He was then flown to a Vancouver Island hospital where he made a full recovery.

Autopilot passes the test

The milestone rescue occurred in Hecate Strait, 200 kilometres offshore, giving the aircrew ample opportunity to put the Cormorant's sophisticated autopilot, which enables these choppers to virtually fly themselves, to the test. "It took us right there," said pilot Captain Jen Weissenborn. "It was nice not having to sit hunched over the controls like we're used to on the Labrador." The chopper's other vastly superior flying characteristics include an extra engine, increased endurance and carrying capacity, and the ability to fly in severe weather.

Flying in the SAR role

442 Squadron has a fleet of five Cormorants. Two of them will be dedicated primarily to training pilots, flight engineers and SARtechs on how to fly the helicopter in the SAR role. "Learning to fly the new helicopter is one thing, but learning to manoeuvre one next to a mountainside or above a pitching boat is something else altogether, "explained Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Goodman, Commanding Officer of 442 Squadron.

The Cormorant is replacing the Canadian Force's Labrador helicopters. In addition to CFB Comox, CFB Gander is receiving three of the yellow aircraft, while CFB Greenwood and CFB Trenton will receive their allotment of the fleet of 15 by the end of the year.

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