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FEATURE STORY

Highlights from SARSCENE 2005

A packed room for a very cool presentation on hypothermia; a heated panel discussion on police working with volunteers, and a very wet day for the outdoor events - these are among the memorable moments from SARSCENE 2005. Weather played a major role.

The SARSCENE exhibits are always one of the most exciting places to be. This year, 50 organizations took part, including commercial vendors, government agencies and non-profit organizations.

The Meteorological Service of Canada turned out for three presentations on prediction tools and hurricanes, timely subjects that are critical to SAR. Their booth in the trade show offered delegates a first-hand look at some of the newest online technologies and a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the role they play in SAR mitigation.

From presentations about major emergencies, such as the tsunami in Thailand to the fires in British Columbia, speakers explored the changing role of search and rescue volunteers. Among the international visitors to SARSCENE, the delegation from Taiwan were, perhaps, the most colourful in their red suits. Theirs was one of the most exciting and disturbing sessions, graphically demonstrating their assistance in the aftermath of the tsunami. As volunteers, they pay a fee for the privilege of joining their volunteer team, and they are among the 20,000 SAR volunteers in a country of 23 million people.

Other international perspectives came from delegates and presentations representing the British Virgin Islands, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, New Zealand, the United States, Iceland and Taiwan. The evaluations rated this aspect as one of the most valuable components of SARSCENE.

Because of this year's maritime location, the focus turned to aspects of fishing vessel safety including dangers of old boats, risk factors and trends, attitudes and government regulations. Newfoundland's Memorial University and Virtual Marine Technology demonstrated their simulator to give delegates hands-on experience of launching a lifeboat from an oil rig into rough waters.

While the pre-SARSCENE training courses highlighted the practical aspect of SAR - incident command, lost person searches, canine care and urban SAR and cold water rescue - the SARSCENE sessions focussed on interagency cooperation, interoperability, lessons learned from SAR incidents and investigations and standards and best practices in prevention.

The National Search and Rescue Secretariat presented changes in the way that the SAR New Initiatives Fund will be managed and their impact on project applications. These workshops were well-attended and especially important this year since renewal of the program by the Treasury Board of Canada has brought about some significant new ground rules.

The Canada Labour Code, which is having an impact on both paid and volunteer SAR professionals, was the topic of a presentation from the RCMP, who also participated in the police and volunteer panel discussion, lessons from a major search in Newfoundland and Labrador, and radio communications. Provincial sessions from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories offered a cross-Canada sweep of new developments in search management and standards.

In all, there were over 60 presentations in a variety of subjects. A new format of 40-minute sessions seemed popular with many of the delegates, and it allowed more flexibility for those speakers who wanted extra time. However, time is always a concern and the format is under review for next year in Gatineau, Quebec.

Experiencing Island Hospitality
This was the first time that SARSCENE had been held in Prince Edward Island. The local hosts, under the direction of Dave Campbell and Barry Folland of the P.E.I. Emergency Management Organization, worked for over a year to ensure success. Music was a major element in three off-site events. The Canada Remembers Chorus helped SARSCENE pay tribute to the Year of the Veteran at the Opening Ceremony held at the elegant Confederation Centre for the Arts. The Charlottetown Firehall hosted a lively Meet and Greet with live music by a local band, and more local flavour was on offer at a well-attended social evening at Jake's Kitchen and Bar. Charlottetown proved to be an ideal location, with the island itself as an added attraction.

P.E.I.'s fledgling team takes first place in the SARSCENE Games
by Edward Hitchcock, NSS Games Coordinator
The SARSCENE Games for 2005 were held on a pleasant fall day, Wednesday, October 5, at Victoria Park in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Located alongside the waterfront, this 37-acre park has a waterfront boardwalk, plenty of wooded areas and walking trails that made an interesting setting for the Games.

"Que les Jeux commencent - Let the Games begin!"

Nine teams of four came from all across Canada and there was even one international team from Ireland. There were six events:

• An evidence search planned by Charlottetown and Montague RCMP members
• A medical emergency event organized by the Canadian Ski Patrol System
• A table top map and compass challenge designed by members of Search and Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers
• A navigation event run by members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Search and Rescue Association
• A search management event coordinated by Parks Canada employees from a variety of locations, and
• A line throwing and water pumping event organized by the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The winners were the P.E.I. Kings County Ground SAR team made up of participants from around the Charlottetown area who had only been training together a matter of months, but who proved to be formidable opponents. Second place went to the extremely skilled Toronto HUSAR team and third place went to an intrepid team of Parks Canada wardens.

In addition to taking home the Wm. Slaughter SARSCENE Games Cup for the year, the Kings County team also received a special-edition lifejacket for each member. Generously donated by Nautilus by Protexion, these custom-fitted jackets are embroidered with "SARSCENE 2005 Champions."

The Games are a massive undertaking by a large number of people, in particular the local SARSCENE hosts who played a key role from city permits to site reclamation.

The dog days of SARSCENE
In addition to presentations on SAR dogs, there was a canine demonstration organized by Dave Walker, the SAR Volunteer Member Coordinator for the City of Hamilton (Ontario) Police Department. After being rained out of the nearby park, an obstacle course was set up in the hotel and the public invited to attend. SAR dogs demonstrated their skills in agility, physical fitness and detection. Some younger members of the audience participated in the demonstration, to the delight of the crowd.

The 2005 K9 Games, organized by Debbie Brewster of Whitehorse District SAR, were held on Saturday morning in Victoria Park. The competition had five stations, including agility, first aid, 'Hollywood Squares,' navigation and drop on recall. Despite the weather, approximately six teams participated in the K9 Games.

Another casualty of the weather was the SAR marine and air demonstration. It was scheduled to take place on Saturday afternoon but had to be cancelled at the last minute because of relentlessly low cloud ceilings. Organized by Captain Chris Healey of the Canadian Forces and Canadian Coast Guard Officer Ray McFadgen, both of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Halifax, this year's demonstrations had been dedicated to the Year of the Veteran.

Despite the cold and rainy weather, displays of SAR aircraft and equipment from the Canadian Forces, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Charlottetown Fire Department were stationed in Victoria Park on Saturday morning. CFCY and Magic 93, two local radio stations in Charlottetown, broadcast live from Victoria Park all morning. And pouring rain didn't stop some members of the public from coming out to see the Canadian Forces CH-146 Griffon and the Canadian Coast Guard's Messerschmitt B0 105. The pilots chatted with the public and gave them tours of the helicopters.

This year's trade show featured new products, technologies and information from a variety of companies from Canada and the United States. Robert Petitpas, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, takes a moment to try Virtual Marine Technology Inc.'s lifeboat launch simulator. Inside the mock-up of a lifeboat cockpit, those brave enough to face the 'rolling seas' experienced what it was like to launch a lifeboat from an oil rig into rough waters. The simulator was developed at the Centre for Marine Simulation, Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland.

The PFD celebrity fashion show
Another new feature of this year's workshop was the Personal Flotation Device (PFD) Fashion Show. With fashion supplied by Nautilus by Protexion and Mustang Survival, the models walked down the runway in a variety of PFDs, including jackets, pants and auto-inflatables. The models included the Honourable Elmer MacFadyen, Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs in P.E.I., Deputy Minister Ron MacMillan, RCMP Chief Superintendent Randy Robar, Councillor Philip Brown, two local children and two members of the Canada Games Swim Team.

The 2005 SAR Awards

Recipients of the Certificates of Achievement
The following people received Certificates of Achievement for their commitment to search and rescue in their communities.

Lloyd Freese is a senior park warden at Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon and was lead park warden in public safety for two decades. His dedication and skill in rescue have been recognized with two Honorary Testimonials from the Royal Canadian Humane Association and two Parks Canada Awards of Excellence.

Through hard work, dedication and vision, Douglas Popowich transformed the Manitoba Ground SAR Program into a well-organized network of highly trained volunteer teams. The program has now trained over 1,000 volunteers. He also improved SAR response in remote areas by training and equipping volunteer teams within each of the eight tribal council areas of Manitoba.

Peter Spear has been a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol Service for four decades and has promoted avalanche safety since the 1960s, when he was co-developer of an avalanche awareness program. This program, taught by Mr. Spear for more than 30 years, formed the basis of the Canadian Avalanche Association's current course - the industry standard.

Rick Staley has been dedicated to SAR for 25 years, primarily at Kluane National Park and Reserve. A park warden at Kluane, Mr. Staley dedicates considerable volunteer time to safety education. He has been recognized twice with honorary testimonials from the Royal Canada Humane Association, and twice with Parks Canada Awards of Excellence.

A founding member of the Porcupine Area Search and Rescue Institute, Horace Webb anticipated the importance of an organized, trained group of search and rescue volunteers. He has supported several initiatives to improve ground SAR response in Ontario and has helped strengthen relations between SAR volunteers and the Ontario Provincial Police.

Constable Colin Wiebe has been a dedicated Central Fraser Valley SAR volunteer since 1993. He volunteers more than 1,000 hours each year and improves his skills by taking almost every SAR course offered by B.C.'s Justice Institute. Among many contributions, he implemented a new Operations Guidelines Manual and rewrote the constitution and bylaws.

Outstanding SAR Achievement Award
Barry Nash of Stephenville Crossing, Newfoundland and Labrador, received the 2005 Outstanding SAR Achievement Award for his hard work and dedication in the Newfoundland SAR community for the past 22 years.

The award was presented to Mr. Nash by Jean Murray, Executive Director of the National Search and Rescue Secretariat, on behalf of the Lead Minister for Search and Rescue, the Honourable Bill Graham, at the SARSCENE 2005 awards banquet.

As coordinator of the Barachois SAR team for the past 15 years, Mr. Nash has shown exceptional leadership, making his team one of the most highly respected in the province. As well, he has generously shared his expertise with other teams across the province.

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