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SEARCH AND RESCUE
Background
- In Canada, except within federally owned National
Parks, the overall responsibility for land and inland water search
and rescue (SAR) rests with the provinces, territories and municipalities.
- Typically this responsibility is delegated to the
police force of jurisdiction, which is the RCMP in all provinces and
territories, except Ontario and Quebec, and in
various municipalities.
- To provide SAR services in the most effective and
cost efficient manner, the RCMP places special emphasis on response,
interdepartmental co-operation, prevention and volunteers.
Response
- RCMP SAR Coordinators ensure regional
issues, including policy, training and resources are promptly addressed.
Each province or territory served by the RCMP has a SAR coordinator.
- Detachment
Commanders ensure complaints of lost or overdue persons are promptly
investigated and a Lost/Missing Person Report is compiled. A SAR-trained
RCMP Search Commander is appointed and a search is initiated.
- RCMP
Search Commanders assume overall on-site authority for organizing
and managing the actual search.
- The assistance of a SAR-trained volunteer
civilian Search Manager and SAR trained volunteers may be requested.
Initial SAR responses may involve one or more of the
following:
- Police Service Dog Team
- Trained volunteer SAR civilian
dog team
- Trained volunteer or RCMP Hasty Teams
- RCMP helicopter equipped with Forward Looking Infrared
(FLIR)
- Trained volunteer "specialist" teams (avalanche,
white water, ice rescue, etc.)
- Trained volunteer SAR divers (although most areas
use RCMP Dive Teams)
- Trained human trackers and other SAR trained persons.
Subsequent or more concentrated searches may involve
the use of:
- SAR-trained volunteer teams, which conduct open or closed
grid searches;
- the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA),
or other provincial agencies with SAR capabilities; or
- the Canadian
Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA) in the
case of inland water searches.
Training
- The minimum training
requirement for RCMP Search Commanders is a basic SAR
and SAR management course.
- The standard used is based on principles
developed by U.S.-based
Emergency Response Institute (ERI), and the U.S. National Association
for Search and Rescue (NASAR).
- Canadian courses that meet these standards include,
but are not limited to the Provincial Emergency Program in British
Columbia and the Emergency Measures Organization in the Yukon.
- The
RCMP also offers sessions on SAR at the
recruit training level, as well as on Detachment Commander training
courses.
Equipment
Multi-tasked equipment is
used to conduct a wide variety
of police services, including SAR, whereas primary SAR equipment
is used specifically for SAR functions.
Multi-tasked equipment owned and operated by the RCMP
includes:
- 404 inshore water transport;
- 8 patrol vessels (8 metres
or more in length); and
- 26 fixed wing aircraft and 9 helicopters (5
equipped with FLIR).
- FLIR-equipped helicopters
are stationed at: Vancouver, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta;
Fredericton, New Brunswick; Gander, Newfoundland and Whitehorse, Yukon.
- All
multi-tasked helicopters are equipped with mounts to accommodate
FLIR.
Primary SAR equipment owned and controlled by the RCMP
includes:
- 1- 7.3-metre Zodiac Hurricane 730-0B located in Iqaluit,
NU;
- 1 - 8.2-metre Boston Whaler located in Yellowknife,
NWT,
- 8 Zodiac mark III Grand Raid Inflatables located at strategic
locations in Newfoundland;
- 1 - 8.2-metre welded aluminum cuddy cabin
boat located at Agassiz; and
- 1 - 9.1-metre aluminum cuddy cabin located
in Hay River, NWT.
Interdepartmental Cooperation
RCMP Divisions have formal
written agreements within each
provincial or territory as well as with other applicable
federal departments.
The agreements clarify the roles of:
- the Civilian Air Search & Rescue Association
(CASARA);
- the Canadian Marine Rescue Association (CMRA);
- the Canadian Parks
Service;
- the Departments of Forestry and Natural Resources; as well
as
- Workers Compensation Coverage for volunteers and other government
and non-governmental agencies with an interest in SAR and provincial
expectations or standards for SAR volunteers.
On a national level, the RCMP
works closely with the National Search and Rescue Secretariat,
which has developed the National Search and Rescue Plan (NSP). The
NSP's objective is to save lives by through prevention and
effective and affordable SAR services.
The RCMP is
also an active participant on the Interdepartmental Committee on Search
and Rescue, which includes representatives from DND, CCG, Parks
Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, and Environment Canada.
Prevention
Although individuals are primarily responsible for their
own safety, the RCMP has developed a number of new prevention
initiatives directed at three target groups:
children ages 5-12; special interest groups, and the general
public.
- School children are taught how to survive in the woods
when lost.
- Videos are used to instill SAR awareness to special interest
groups, including two developed by Alberta RCMP.
- Prevention brochures are offered
to the general public during police week and during other special
occasions, including one entitled "Prepared for the Woods",
produced by Emergency Preparedness Canada.
Volunteers
- Properly trained civilian volunteers can be equally as effective
as highly trained paid professionals, and are often more
readily available.
- When feasible, the RCMP will also assist in the training of volunteers.
- Potential volunteer search managers are encouraged to attend RCMP-sponsored
search management courses alongside potential RCMP SAR Commanders.
- The extent of SAR volunteers generally varies by province, according
to provincial guidelines, standards, Workers Compensation and local
RCMP requirements.
- Provincial standards and certification pre-determine qualifications,
especially with volunteer SAR dog teams.
- The Search Commander must ensure both handler
and dog will recognize clues and will not destroy evidence,
injure the lost person or become lost or injured themselves.
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