OUTSTANDING SEARCH AND RESCUE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2007

2007 Recipient
Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Specialist Coordinators Working Group

Photos by Jae-Sang Park and other contributors

Géraldine Underdown, Executive Director, National Search and Rescue Secretariat with members of the Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Specialist Coordinators Working Group.

Our country is magnificent and vast; however, its immense coastlines, open oceans, and Great Lakes and rivers can often be unforgiving to those who work and play in the marine environment. Thus, we owe a great deal to those dedicated individuals who create and sustain programs of maritime search and rescue, providing a critical response to mariners in their time of greatest need.

The Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Specialist Coordinators Working Group's unwavering commitment to service delivery resulted in the implementation of the Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Specialist Program. Credit must be given to the Group for their choice to partner with St. John's Ambulance to develop training tailored specifically to the maritime search and rescue environment. Within the Rescue Specialist Program, medical care has progressed from basic First Aid to enhanced skill sets such as casualty management. Rescue Specialists now have the ability to perform advanced levels of emergency medical care in addition to their mariner duties and standard search and rescue skills training.

Photos by Jae-Sang Park and other contributors

Géraldine Underdown, Executive Director, National Search and Rescue Secretariat presents the Outstanding SAR Achievement Award to members of the Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Specialist Coordinators Working Group.

Each year, the Canadian Coast Guard responds to approximately 6,500 incidents, often in collaboration with the Canadian Forces and Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary. Most of the search and rescue cases they respond to require the pre-hospital care services of a Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Specialist. Today, as a result of the working group's efforts, nearly 500 highly skilled personnel are ready to react and provide care wherever and whenever they are called upon.

2007 Certificates of Achievement